Darkness Awakens
by XxMissElxX
Summary: Aria Bradley returns to spandex in this Darkness Within sequel. With a strange and mysterious prophecy weighing down on her shoulders will she prevail or lose everything. Secrets are revealed, tragedy strikes, and Aria's dark powers are awakened
1. Prolouge

_(A/N: Heres the sequels prologue! i hope u guys enjoy this as much as the first one!)_

 _(Disclaimer: PRMF isnt mine, Aria is...duh)_

Darkness Awakens

By: XxMissElxX

 **Prologue**

 **-Rootcore-**

It was now late October of 2004 and a now 18 year old Aria Bradley sat at a large, circular, table with an old spell book in front of her.

She had tied her hair up in a loose bun and rested her head in her hands as she read. Though she preferred fight training she also enjoyed learning various spells and the history of Mystics.

With a sigh she sat back and looked down at herself. For the past 6 months lived in Rootcore alongside Udonna and her other apprentice Claire, whom she met her second day in Briarwood. She had traded her black ninja uniform for a flowing white, long sleeved top underneath a black leather halter vest that ended at her ribcage. Paired with black shorts that along with her vest had intricate detailing in deep purple; a black hooded cape draped on her back and had wrist guards in the same style as her vest and shorts. The hood on her cape had the shape of a winged woman in the same deep purple.

The change was welcomed but Aria still longed for her old ninja uniform. Hell, she longed for her family back in Reefside and Blue Bay. She couldn't call them; Cam would just track her down, so she sent a letter every few weeks just to tell them she was okay but she would never reveal her location. And every letter said the same thing,

 _Hey guys I'm doing good, alive and well, missing you all_

Reaching for the gold angel hanging around her neck tears started welling. She missed her family, the girls, everyone; however Aria had to stay in the forest during this training.

She was constantly reaching inside to awaken her dark powers. She was slowly but surely getting better at keeping her powers in check. It got easier and easier to control her magic with thoughts of Dustin, her brothers, and everyone she loved.

Udonna still wouldn't let her contact her friends though which really disappointed the former black ranger. She thought back to her year as a ranger; meeting the Winds, going evil, joining the Winds, admitting her feelings for Dustin, and meeting the girls. Aria bit back a bitter laugh at that point. Their band name was Black Magic for shit sake and here she was, learning that she literally controlled _black magic_.

Releasing her wild hair from its bun she ran a hair through it and pinching the bridge of her nose to stop tears from falling. Her thoughts were interrupted by Claire calling her name

"Um, Aria? Hello?"

Blinking tears away she forced a smile "Oh, hey Claire what's up? Is something wrong?"

"Uh, I'm actually not sure"

Aria quirked an eyebrow "Um…what?"

Claire was such a sweetheart but sometimes she was a bit…off

"Well, I was cleaning around as usual and I was just sweeping in your room when I heard this beeping,"

Aria's head snapped to look Claire in the eye

"I swear I just wasn't snooping around but it was getting _really_ annoying and it was coming from this thing" Claire rambled as she produced the emergency communicator from her front pocket. Sure enough it started to beep again

Claire's eyes widened in excitement "Oh! I know! I'll cast a silencing charm! A-"

"NO!" Aria cried, cutting the blonde off and taking the communicator out of her hands

Pressing the center of the communicator she heard Cam's voice play "Meet in Reefside ASAP, explanation later"

Aria replayed the message once more, panic taking over her for a second. She looked to the bumbling apprentice, "Claire, I gotta go, where's Udonna?"

The calm voice of the older woman rang throughout the tree as she stepped to through the entrance, "I heard everything Aria, you may go-"

"YES!" she cheered

"But – you still cannot tell them what you really have been doing"

Aria sighed but nodded her head in agreement. Udonna nodded her head once and Aria sprinted to her room.

She changed into her Ninja Uniform once again, throwing a couple of clothes into a black backpack and grabbing her phone.

Entering the main part of Rootcore again Udonna and Claire stood aside, the three women smiled at each other before Aria exited the dragon.

She stood before a random tree, reached her hand through it, and teleported to the familiar woods of Reefside

 **-Reefside-**

Stepping out of the tree Aria's emergency communicator beeped again; answering it Cam gave his location.

Even though she was only here because of a crisis Aria couldn't help but smile at the thought of seeing everyone again; especially Dustin and her brothers.

"I'm on my way guys" she said quietly before streaking to Cam's location

(A/N: Stay tuned! so I guess it's obvious that I am NOT writing _Dino Thunder_ but I am still doing the teamup, so...yeah. Review and Follow pwease!)


	2. Chapter 1

(Disclaimer: If you dont kno this by now...smh)

 **Chapter 1: Thunder Storm parts 1 & 2**

 **-Reefside-**

Aria streaked through downtown before spotting the familiar silhouettes of three of her former teammates. She couldn't help but smile at them.

"Blake! Am I glad to see you" she heard Hunter greet

"Well fuck you too Hunter" she quipped

Her brothers turned around and gave her a hug before all three of them replaced their smiles with stern looks

"Came here as fast as I could, what's up?"

Cam gave a quick one armed, "We got trouble, big trouble" he said, nodding his end to the ground below

The Bradleys looked to the scene below and their eyes widened. Dustin, Tori, and Shane were fighting alongside a group of Kelzaks against a team of new and unfamiliar rangers. The new of rangers eventually left, limping away while the Winds stood there laughing menacingly.

Both Blake and Aria couldn't believe what they were seeing, both of them haven't seen their significant other in months and now it seemed that they would have to fight them.

Aria sighed and faced the three guys "What are we gonna do guys?"

"I don't know Ri, Cam?" Hunter asked hopefully

Cam looked to the ground for a second before turning on his heel walking away "The Abyss"

At those words the Bradleys' eyes widened in a mix of shock and fear "WHAT?!"

The three quickly chased Cam to catch up with him

"Are you crazy?" Blake said exasperated

"I take back anything I ever said about you being smart" Hunter added

"Um, do you not remember what happened to me the last time I was near the Abyss?" concluded Aria.

"Do you see what they've done?" Cam snapped "We have to get to the Abyss, it's out only chance"

"You were there right? You know what's inside that thing?" Hunter asked

It all suddenly clicked for Aria "Our powers…" she said quietly

"Exactly," Cam agreed "We have to get em back if we wanna have any chance of helping the Dino Rangers fight Tori, Shane, and Dustin"

Blake shook his head in frustration, Aria hung hers, and Hunter looked torn. None of them wanted to fight their friends; they had had enough of that in the beginning of their ranger days.

"No way, No! There is no possible way I'm going near that thing again. Or fight Tor!"

 **-Blue Bay Harbor-**

 **-Abyss of Evil-**

"I hope you realize that every time you say you're _not_ gonna do something, you always end up doing it?" Aria teased as Blake nervously stood at the edge of the Abyss alongside Hunter and Cam

"I'm gonna say this again, this is a bad idea" he repeated "And why doesn't she have to go?" he added pointing to Aria who was standing a safe distance away

She crossed her arms and quirked an eyebrow "Well if you want me to use my dark powers to kill you then by all means, lower me in"

All Blake could do was glare at his little sister, oh how he missed her

"Ok let's go, and uh, stick together we split up we're through" Cam reminded before the three boys lowered themselves in

Aria stood outside toying with her gold necklace and tapping her foot. All she could do was wait.

Not two minutes later she heard the distinct ringtone of Hunter's phone, 'Of course he didn't change it' Aria thought to herself. She went into her brother's bag and fished it out, and pressed 'decline'. She tossed back in his bag and turned to face the Abyss once more. His phone began to ring again. She rolled her eyes and pressed 'decline' again. The damned thing rang for a third time and Aria angrily answered

"Hello?"

 _"_ _Ri?"_

"Lila?"

'Oh shit…' she thought

 _"_ _You're in Blue Bay?"_

"Um…"

 _"_ _Is Hunter there? I need to talk to him"_ she sounded pissed

"Is everything alright with you two?"

Lila groaned through the phone, uh oh _"He's hiding something, I know it. You know how many dates he's cancelled? He says he has work but he doesn't tell me what! And when he is free he says he's too tired to do shit?"_

Ohhh, Aria knew what this was about.

"I'm sure he has a good reason" she tried

 _"_ _Ugh! I'm sick of it! I love you Ri but if he doesn't tell me what's going on soon…"_

Aria sighed internally, she was a afraid this would happen sooner or later

"Look Lila, just talk to Hunter, ok-" Aria was cut off by one of the boys screams.

"I gotta go"

 _"_ _What the f-"_

Aria ended the call and ran to the edge. The pull was there but it's significantly weaker than before.

"WHAT HAPPENED?" she called but got no answer, instead a white streak blurred past her and into the Abyss.

She jumped back and scooted away from the opening. Seconds later Hunter, Blake, and Cam stood before her along with Sensei.

"Are you guys ok?" she asked

"Yeah, come on we have to get to Ops" Cam said

The former rangers nodded and the four of them streaked back to their old headquarters.

 **-Ninja Ops-**

Ops had definitely been renovated these past six months. The computer was much bigger and a major part of one wall was a map of Southern California. The short legged table was still there and the cushions of all the ranger colours were still there. There was a display case above the computer that had six stands.

Three of them held the Thunder Morphers and the other three were empty. Aria's heart clenched at the sight.

Cam sped towards the computer and took the remaining morphers out. He immediately began working so Aria took this time to confront Hunter

"Lila's onto you" she said bluntly

Ever the clueless male Hunter was completely oblivious "What?"

"She was calling you earlier, saying how she knows your hiding something"

He rubbed a hand over his face "What do I do now?"

Aria raised her hands in surrender "Uh, you're my brother and she's my friend, I ain't getting involved"

Hunter groaned and went off towards Sensei; their backs faced the others and spoke in hushed tones.

"DONE!" Cam announced. He shot up from his chair and handed the Thunders their old morphers along with new Ninja Discs for the Winds.

"We have to get them to put these in their morphers; it'll reverse Lothor's control over them"

"How though?" Blake wondered

The three Thunders nodded, strapped their morphers on; the familiar weight on Aria's left wrist seemed to comfort her somehow.

Before anyone could answer Blake's question the alarms blared and the map on the wall zoomed in on the Hoverbridge in Reefside. It showed a video feed of the six primary coloured rangers facing off

"Speak of the devil" Aria sighed

"Let's go" Cam called

With a nod the four of them streaked out of Ops

 **-Reefside-**

 **-Hoverbridge-**

They raced to the bridge and made it just in time to stop the Winds from morphing.

"Wait!" Blake yelled

"Wait a minute, Blake?" a short girl in yellow with wavy brown hair asked "That's how I know you! You're a Power Ranger!" her round eyes then landed on Aria "No way! Aria too? I saw your band on Totally Talented, you're a ranger too!?"

Aria was flattered but she had a role to play right now. She and the three guys stared the Dinos down and walked to the Winds

"Good, cause we could use all the help we can get!" a guy in blue exclaimed

"We're not here to help you guys out, we stick with our own kind" Blake said

"Lothor showed us the error of our ways" Hunter added

'Really Hunter?' Aria thought to herself

"Whoever doesn't follow us, we'll destroy" Aria concluded

"This is gonna be great!" Dustin cheered

"Wait!" Cam held a hand up "First, you have to take these a little power boost, direct from the Abyss of Evil."

"But we already have our powers" Tori frowned, clearly annoyed

"Not these ones" Hunter stated, he wasn't technically lying

"You better be right about this" Shane sneered before grabbing his disc from Cam's open hand

"Have we ever been wrong?" Aria said

The Winds placed their new discs in their morphers, activated them, and then fell on their back from the shock.

The remaining four Ninjas helped them up

"Dude what happened? My bell is seriously rung" Dustin complained as Hunter helped him up.

When he finally got up his eyes fell on Aria who rushed forward and embraced him.

"Ri, what are you doing here?"

Aria stepped out of his hug but kept an arm around his waist

"How did we get here? Last thing I remember-" Tori asked after embracing Blake in a similar manner

"Lothor" Blake finished "He's back"

"Yeah we know Sensei told us" Shane said

"That wasn't Sensei" Hunter revealed

"No dude I know Sensei when I see him" Dustin tried

"No, it was Lothor" Aria repeated

"Ok unless it was Lothor dressed as Sensei huh?"

Aria pursed her lips and patted his shoulder as the new rangers stepped forward

A very familiar looking guy in red with shaggy brown hair spoke up first, "Ok this is all highly amusing, but does someone want to tell me what's going on?"

"Well, do ya'll have a headquarters?" Aria asked

 **-Cave-**

Aria and the other rangers were brought to a cave in the middle of the woods. Inside was dimly lit and was much bigger than Ops. There was a large desk at the back of the cave that had a large computer resting on top of it. The ninja learned the Dino's names; Hayley (the female version of Cam essentially), Conner, Kira, Ethan, Trent, and the legendary Tommy Oliver. Aria couldn't believe it; her successor was freakin TOMMY OLIVER! Dustin had told her about previous ranger teams and Aria did some of her own research and saw just how bad ass he was. Anyway, back to the story

"We were about to fall inside the Abyss, but dad got there just in time" Cam explained to all the other rangers

"So faked being on Lothor's side to get you to take the right Ninja Discs" Hunter finished

"It's a good thing you guys showed up when you did" the red ranger, Conner commented

Shane scoffed "Good thing for you guys"

Everyone laughed

"Whatever dude"

"No I'm just playing, you guys fight like rock stars"

"I for one will take that as a compliment" the yellow ranger, Kira stated

Dustin bumped fists with Ethan and Tori and Kira shared a small smiles.

"We're glad you're here but now it's time to get down to business" Dr. O said

"Tommy is right, we have a serious problem on our hands" Sensei added

"This is gonna take all of us" Tommy thought aloud. The twelve rangers stole glances at one another in a silent agreement with Tommy.

Right now they were playing the waiting game so the rangers busied themselves. Aria was talking to Kira about her band when her phone rang, the caller ID said Lila.

"Uh, sorry give me a sec" she excused herself

"Lils?" she asked

 _"_ _Where are you?"_

"Uh…Reefside"

 _"_ _Emergency band meeting…Now!"_

"I can't leave dude, I'm in the middle of something"

 _"_ _I'm getting the girls we'll be there in an hour"_

"No Lila-"

Lila had hung up

Aria sighed and pocketed her phone, Dustin came up behind her "Everything ok?"

Aria laughed lightly "Hunter's in the doghouse"

Dustin laughed a little too before getting a serious look on his face, "Where've you been Ri?"

Aria couldn't look him in the eye so she stared at her shoes "I can't tell you…I know it's been hard"

Aria turned to face him, "But hopefully I can tell you soon"

Dustin sighed and pulled her into his chest.

 **-Later-**

Hayley, Sensei, and Dr. O stood by the computer when the alarms blared. The video feed showed an army of aliens and monsters; some familiar and others never seen before. They must've been Mesogogs creations.

"It's time; let's show them what teamwork's really all about" Dr. O encouraged.

 **-Quarry-**

Both teams raced down to the quarry. When they got there they stood in a line and faced their enemies.

"Let's be careful" Tommy reminded "But let's get it done"

Aria smiled "Oh it's good to be back"

"You guys ready?" Conner called

"Ready!"

"DINO THUNDER! POWER UP"

"WHITE RANGER! DINO POWER"

"NINJA STORM! RANGER FORM!"

"THUNDERSTORM! RANGER FORM!"

"SAMURAI STORM! RANGER FORM!"

"HA!"

"Tyranno!"

"Tricera!"

"Ptera!"

"Brachio!"

"Drago!"

"DINO THUNDER!"

"Power of Air!"

"Water!"

"Earth!"

"Crimson Thunder!"

"Navy Thunder!"

"Black Thunder!"

"Samurai Power!"

"NINJA STORM!"

The combined team of eleven leapt down from the cliff

"RANGER POWER!"

On the opposing side a lady in too much black leather screeched "ATTACK!"

The six primary coloured straddled their bikes and rode off to meet the army of aliens. Shane and Conner teamed up to blast two unfamiliar big-headed aliens, Tori and Kira went for the lady in leather, Elsa, and Dustin and Ethan went for some of the old aliens from their Ninja Storm days. Hunter and Blake fought off multiple monsters, Trent and Cam handled the foot soldiers, and finally Tommy and Aria double teamed Zurgane.

Aria called her Black Daggers and grinned at the familiar weight in her hands before effortlessly throwing them in the center of his chest. While he was distracted she used her Thunder Whip to slash him. Soon Tommy leapt through and landed a hard kick on his shoulder. Now using her Thunder Staff Aria fought alongside Tommy with his Brachio Staff.

The landed a few feet apart and Zurgane took this time to try and fire at Tommy. Aria was faster however as she used her Thunder Shield to revert the blast to Zurgane.

"I'll take it from here! Brachio Staff Energy Orb!" Tommy cried

The blast ended Zurgane and the two black rangers turned away.

The two teams regrouped and complimented each other on their battles.

"Nice job you guys" Shane said, reaching his hand out

"You too" Conner returned and shook his hand

At this point Marah and Kapri fell out of the sky

"Oh joy" Aria mumbled

"Hey Cam!" they called

"What are you doing here?"

"Is that any way to treat family?" Kapri asked

"Yeah especially if we have a present for you?" Marah added

They revealed a dark red bottle; uncapping it they released the Ninja Students.

Marah and Kapri then ripped their ugly space ninja gear to reveal their normal Ninja Uniforms.

The rangers went over and greeted the students to see if they were okay.

 **-Cave-**

The rangers returned to the cave to survey the damage on the Samurai Amulet.

"I'm afraid it's dead" Hayley informed sadly "Lothor's extraction of the powers left us enough energy for one last battle"

"Well I guess it's a good thing we got you guys" Shane said with some remorse

"You've done your part" Conner reassured "It's our turn to take over what you left off"

"There's just one thing that I don't understand" Dustin said, walking by Tommy with Aria under his arm

"What's that?"

"Who rescued Sensei?"

Tweedle-Dee and Tweedle-Dum took this time to jump up, explaining how they literally dragged him out of Lothor's prison.

"Um, hey it's time to get down and dirty!" Blake cheered as they all got ready for Blake's race.

 **-Motocross Track-**

Dressed in denim shorts, fishnets, purple crop top, and converse Aria cheered her brother on with the others as he demolished the track. He easily out maneuvered the other riders and took first place. The boys hoisted him on their shoulders and they all hooted and hollered in excitement.

When the excitement died down Hayley offered drinks at her café, Cyberspace.

On their way there she got a call from Lila

 _"_ _I'm in Reefside, girls are with me where you at?"_

This is what she loved about Lila; she was a crazy ass bitch

"Are you sure about this?"

 _"_ _Where are you?"_

Aria sighed "Go to Cyberspace"

 **-Cyberspace Café-**

All the rangers stood about the café and talked amongst themselves. Suddenly the doors flew open and the other girls of Black Magic came in.

"Oh…my…God" Kira said in awe

Aria headed over and Lila started all over again

"How many songs do you remember?"

Aria was taken aback "Um…all of them?"

"Even the ones we all wrote together?"

"Yeah…what are you doing Lila?"

"Follow my lead"

Aria sighed and shot Hunter a look that just said 'You're fucked'

Lila exchanged a few words with Hayley who stood behind the bar and then made her way to the small stage. She was followed by Desi and Nami but Aria walked a little slower

"I don't have my guitar…"

Kira suddenly sprung up and handed her a bright yellow guitar, "Use mine, I always leave it here for when I have gigs"

Aria smiled gratefully and began setting up.

Soon everything was set and Lila spoke into her mic from behind the drum set. "Hey everyone, now after six months of hiatus, Black Magic has returned. And this is dedicated to a _special_ someone"

Multiple pairs of eyes fell on Hunter

"Here is _You Don't Know Me_ "

(A/N: _Lila)_

 _You think you know me  
But you don't know me  
You think you own me  
But you can't control me_

 _You look at me  
And there's just one thing that you see  
So listen to me  
Listen to me_

 _You push me back  
I push you back  
Harder, harder  
You scream at me  
I scream at you  
Louder, l-l-l-l-louder_

 _I'm dangerous, I'm warning you  
But you're not afraid of me  
And I can't convince you  
You don't know me_

 _You think you got me  
But you don't get me  
You think you want me  
But you don't know what you're getting into_

 _There's so much more to me  
then what you think you see  
So listen to me  
Just listen to me_

 _You push me back  
I push you back  
Harder, harder  
You scream at me  
I scream at you  
Louder, l-l-l-l-louder_

 _I'm dangerous, I'm warning you  
But you're not afraid of me  
And I can't convince you  
You don't know me_

 _You push me back  
I push you back  
You scream at me  
I scream at you  
Louder [9x]_

 _You push me back  
I push you back  
Harder, harder  
You scream at me  
I scream at you  
Louder, l-l-l-l-louder_

 _I'm dangerous, I'm warning you  
But you're not afraid of me  
And I can't convince you  
And I don't have to  
I think you know me_

Afterwards, the rangers erupted in applause before the band stepped down. Lila made a beeline for Hunter while the other band members began mingling around. Lila and Hunter stepped outside leaving everyone else curious as to what was going to happen.

Suddenly they heard Lila screech "ARE YOU SERIOUS?!"

"Well, cats out the bag…" Aria joked as Dustin wrapped an arm around her.

 **-Later-**

It was well into the night when everyone went their separate ways. Aria knew it was time to leave again, everyone else did too.

They repeated the same process as last time; they stood in a line as Aria said goodbye.

Of course Dustin's goodbye lasted longer than anyone else's but now she really had to go.

"I promise I'll explain everything soon" she whispered before walking away "I love you guys!" she called before taking off.

When she was out of sight she looked back at the rangers in the café before streaking to the woods.

 **-Woods-**

She found a random tree, focused her magic and stepped through.

(A/N: Sorry for the late update, i've been busy with hw. i hope you liked it it took me a while. Review and Follow please)


	3. Chapter 2

(Disclaimer: PRMF isnt mine, only Aria and all OCs)

 **Chapter 2: Broken Spell part I**

 **-Rootcore-**

Aria released her hair from its ponytail and ran her hands through her dark locks. Staring at the six cell phone looking devices before her before switching her gaze to seven long wooden wands. For months she had been at this; had it been Cam or Hailey this job probably have been finished ages ago but no, Aria couldn't call her fellow tech savvy nerds for help. Udonna stood behind her with her arms elegantly crossed over her chest.

 _-_ _ **Flashback-**_

 _After returning to Rootcore she picked up her training once more, slowly but surely gaining more and more control over her other half. However, that gnawing feeling that she could someday lose herself again still remained present as ever._

 _Right now she was practicing a new technique Udonna taught her. She was learning how to melt into shadows and appear in a new location; appropriately referred to as Shadow Travelling_

 _The sound of leaves rustling behind her signaled Udonna's presence_

 _She turned, took a few deep breaths, and waited as her eyes slowly faded to their normal grey-green._

 _Udonna smiled at her second apprentice "You've gotten better"_

 _Aria returned a small smile in return "Thanks"_

 _Udonna slowly made her way over to the girl "Aria, I understand you have a certain understanding of modern technology?"_

 _Aria was taken aback; early on she learned that the Mystic World was pretty…old fashioned. "Um, yeah I would say so" she paused and looked to the ground "Nowhere near Cam or Hailey's talent though…"_

 _Udonna smiled a little "Follow me"_

 _Aria followed the older woman inside and was shown to five wands similar to the one given to her when she first began training. While hers was dark brown with a deep purple winged skeleton these five were red, yellow, green, blue, and pink; each with its own personal figure._

 _"_ _As you have learned, there were five legendary mystic warriors who had sealed the Master to the Underworld"_

 _Aria nodded in understanding_

 _"_ _Well, in light of recent events you took part in, I have decided to create a team of rangers in the event something were to occur in the Mystic World"_

 _Aria's eyes widened "Um, not just anyone can become a ranger, besides you said the gates to the Underworld were sealed."_

 _Udonna looked down at the wands laid out before them, "One can never be too careful…" she said mysteriously as she ran a slim finger over the red phoenix figurine._

 _"_ _So…you want me to do what exactly?"_

 _"_ _I need your help in creating morphers, so if one day the unfathomable were to happen, we'll be ready"_

 _She stared at the wands in deep thought "Alright, I'll need a computer and a whole lot of caffeine"_

 ** _-End Flashback-_**

That was before realizing just how difficult it would be to combine magic to the morphing grid. It didn't help that the computer Udonna provided was…obsolete. The computer in Ops and the Dino Cave was way more advanced; then again they were designed by two computer geeks and not a witch.

She banged her head on the table and peered up at the screen, in a final attempt she typed another program into the computer and Udonna cast another 'energy transfer' spell.

Suddenly the screen showed what she knew to be the morphing grid.

Aria leapt up from her chair and screamed in delight. She had done it! She created morphers! Both Udonna and Aria watched as a glow surrounded both the wands and newly created morphers; the morphers looked as if it melded into the wands themselves as they disappeared from view. When the glow faded all six wands flashed in their respective colours before fading as well.

Udonna placed a hand on the girl's shoulder "Well done Aria"

 **-Later-**

Aria was back outside, practicing basic meditation techniques from her ninja days; these past few months have been stressful as hell for her when the ground began to shake.

Her eyes snapped open and she looked around in panic. But almost as fast as it began, it was over. She shot up and ran inside.

"Udonna? Are you okay? Claire?" she rambled

"I'm fine, what was that?" Claire questioned

Udonna stood before the Xenotome with a look of worry "There is a crack in the gate. The darkness has returned" she said ominously

Aria's face paled "I don't like how that sounds…should I be worried?"

Udonna hesitated before answering "No, but it is a good thing you prepared those wands."

"Perfect timing…" she mumbled

"Come, we must find the rangers"

Aria was shocked and a bit skeptical "Um, how are we going to do this?"

"The five warriors will follow their destiny; you must go into town and find them"

"First, you're starting to sound like Sensei, and second, how am I supposed to do that?"

"They'll find you" was all she said before waving her hands. A shimmer cascaded down Aria's body; looking down she noticed that she had been turned into an old man.

"Oh joy…" she said sarcastically in a gravelly voice

 **-Briarwood-**

Aria went into the part of Briarwood not far from the woods and started crying for help, drawing in a crowd,

"I need help, please someone, anyone! It's my brother, we were walking just up the road when some creature grabbed him." She began "I fear the worst, I-it's just out of town" she begged but still no one said anything, just gasps of disbelief "The creature took him into the woods"

People began to walk away, shaking their heads. But she noticed a few stayed; a group of teenagers not much younger than herself.

"Won't somebody please help me?" she tried again when someone finally answered back

"I will"

The crowd parted and revealed a guy in dark jeans and a white shirt crouched down next to a motorcycle. "I could use a break" he said nonchalantly

"Thank you" she breathed as he put on a black leather jacket

Suddenly, a guy from the group of teens that stayed walked up to him, "Hey, I'm uh-I'm Xander, you're new around here aren't you? Probably not aware of all the facts, and there's just one; you go into those woods, you don't come out." He said with an Australian accent

Aria held her breath and waited for the guy's response; he seemed familiar to her "Heard about it, but this guy needs help. No one else in this city seems to care"

"I'll go with you" a girl with short black hair and streaks of white answered "Not everyone in this city's a coward"

'I like this girl' Aria thought to herself

A red headed boy popped up smiling like a mad man "I'll go too! I've always wanted to go on a dangerous quest! This is a dangerous quest right?"

The short haired girl looked up at him, "Perilous" she replied before walking over

"Well let's go" the dark haired stranger said as Aria began walking back to the Woods

 **-Woods-**

Aria stopped at the entrance and turned to the other three behind her, this was their last chance to enter "Are you sure you're willing to enter? The woods are a very scary place"

"You ask a lot of questions for someone who's brother's in danger" the first guy shot back

Aria whispered to herself "Everyone's in danger"

As the words slipped her mouth a horn honked, they all turned and saw a black jeep being driven up the dirt road.

The girl stormed up to the car "Xander! I told you if you ever took my car I'd rearrange your limbs!" she threatened as the other two boys followed her

Xander replied "You're going into those woods and never returning, as if you'd ever see it again"

"He's got a point…" redhead defended

The second girl spoke up with a softer voice "You're my sister, where you go, I go"

Aria's heart clenched as she thought of her brothers, but right now she had a task to finish

"So this is the five…"Aria whispered before turning into the woods.

Aria led them deep into the woods; to the border of the Mystic Realm to be exact and slowly began to trail behind.

Not noticing her slow down the five kept going ahead while she quickly jumped into a tree.

 **-Rootcore-**

Udonna stood in her black cloak in front of the dragon's head, when Aria stumbled out of the tree she waved her hands again to remove her disguise and replace it with her Mystic Uniform

"I found them" she breathed

With a nod Udonna took the younger girl's hand and stepped into a tree's shadow.

 **-Woods-**

The two appeared out of nowhere, both with their hoods drawn up and covering their faces

The four teens had looks of fear as they looked past the first volunteer and directly at Udonna and Aria.

"Oh, ok, so now you're playing with me" he said lightly "Ooh, someone's behind me, I'm so scared…BOO!" he joked

The short haired girl finally spoke up "There is someone behind you!"

The guys turned around and jumped at the sight of the two hooded women before him.

Udonna stalked towards them while they had a look of panic in their eyes. Aria heard the rustling of leaves nearby and felt her dark magic surrounding her when a group of hideous creature leapt out of nowhere

"They brought friends!" one of the girls said

Udonna withdrew her own wand that had a white snowflake resting upon and cast her spell " _Dispel Aratan!_ "

Five brooms zoomed through the air and carried the five teens away to Rootcore while with a few waves of her wand Udonna destroyed all the creatures.

"Why did you need me here again?" Aria said cheekily while her mentor just rolled her eyes and jumped through a tree. Aria laughed lightly and followed.

 **-Rootcore-**

They appeared right in front of the entrance which was currently blocked by the five teens

"What is this place?" the long haired girl asked

"I call it Rootcore" Udonna answered as she and Aria began walking towards them.

The five teens just walked backwards inside the mouth of the dragon, never taking their eyes off of the two hooded women.

 **-Inside-**

The two easily snuck inside, unseen by the five. Aria leaned by one of the many book shelves while Udonna was standing on a leveled platform

"I thought it best to bring you here" she said

The Australian was the first to speak "Hi, I'm Xander; it's a really nice place you got here, real – woody…"

Another wave of her hand and the brooms that swept them away were now in their proper place. Udonna gracefully removed her cloak and began introductions "I am the sorceress Udonna, and this" she motioned to Aria who also removed her hood "is one of my apprentices Aria"

Aria nodded her head in greeting before walking over to the six of them

"Welcome to our home"

The red head exclaimed "Wow! This is awesome!"

"When the five of you entered the forest you stepped into a magical dimension" Udonna explained

That redhead just oozed excitement and wonder

"Years ago, there was a great battle in our world. Dark magic conquered our realm" Aria's head lowered, slightly in shame "and it was about to enter your dimension, when we finally defeated them and sent them back to the Underworld. But at a great cost…the gate was sealed with a powerful spell"

Aria chose this time to step in, "But with the recent Earthquake the gate cracked, and evil is slipping through"

Xander spoke up again looking Aria up and down a little before asking "Remember me, Xander? I'm just wondering, what does that have to do with us?"

Udonna spoke up again before turning to walk up to the Xenotome "It could mean the end for both of our worlds"

"Please!" the first guy scoffed "None of us are buying this fairytale"

"This ain't a fairytale dude" Aria sighed "It's all true"

He scoffed again before the short haired girl said "Hey, let's hear what they have to say. We can always leave after that"

"The Xenotome; the Book of the Unknown" Udonna stated

"Guess what's inside" Aria smirked "Everything we don't know"

"What kind of language is that?" the first girl questioned "I've never seen it before"

Udonna smiled at her curiosity "It is the language of the Ancients, you will soon learn it"

"Total pain in the ass" Aria mumbled

Udonna ignored her comment and continued "It says that when evil rises again, five mystical warriors from the human realm will step forward. You are those warriors. You are the Power Rangers"

Now all of them (excluding redhead) had the same skeptical look on their faces

"Look, excuse me, look how are we gonna fight pure evil? Our high school hasn't even won a football game in like, six years" Xander questioned

Udonna revealed the wands and handed them out "These are your magic wands"

Redhead received the Yellow Garuda, the second girl was given the Blue Mermaid, her sister was handed the Pink Pixie, Xander took the Green Minotaur, and the first guys was passed the Red Phoenix

"Don't go _anywhere_ without them" Aria warned

Suddenly Claire rushed in out of nowhere "Udonna! Udonna! Udonna!" she immediately froze when she noticed this five "Oh, hello…Nice to meet you, uh, excuse me, Udonna?" The rest went unheard by Aria as she whispered in Udonna's ear

The older woman straightened up and looked at the five, "You must stay here until we return. Do not go into the woods by yourselves, come Aria"

With a snap of her fingers the two were gone

 **-Woods-**

As Aria walked to the village alongside Udonna she looked over and said with a small smile "They're not gonna stay at Rootcore" Udonna laughed lightly before stopping suddenly

Their eyes widened at the sight of the village; smoke clouded their vision and many of the creatures stumbled through the wreckage in search of friends, family, anything that was still intact

Xander's voice got their attention "Who are they?"

"Told you they wouldn't stay there" Aria said matter-of-factly

"What happened here?" Blue asked

"Woodland Village was destroyed; tomorrow it will be another village. The Darkness destroys anything in its path until they find what they want" Udonna informed

Aria toyed with the angel charm of her necklace at those words

"What are they looking for?" Yellow wondered

"Me, and then they will go after you"

Red spoke up, he still seemed so familiar "Now hold on a sec, I never agreed to be a part of this"

As if on cue some of the villagers started crying out "It is them! The Mystic Force!"

A giant appeared out of nowhere seconds later, towering over them with his puny head and huge body

Aria and Udonna stood in front of them

"Take out you wands" Udonna commanded

"Uh, we kinda left them back at the tree…"Yellow admitted

Aria growled in frustration "Damn rookies…" she mumbled "Stand back"

Aria stepped back as Udonna morphed into the White Mystic Ranger

"MAGICAL SOURCE! MYSTIC FORCE!"

"Flurry of Snow! White Mystic Ranger!"

'Holy shit it worked!' Aria thought to herself

The others were watching Udonna fight off the giant while a group of creatures from before appeared; Hidiacs.

"Hey, we got company" Aria commented

The five of them began thinking of what they could do; Xander had the brilliant plan to try and reason with them but instead got a kick to the chest

Aria fell into her fighting stance and prepared to fight. The Hidiacs fired at the six but while Aria was able to doge it, the other five weren't so lucky

This proved to be the same with their personal fights with these new cronies. Aria easily managed her own group, using her old Ninja skills again to get them off of her while the others were thrown around; it was quite sad actually so she decided to help

"Guys listen up!" Aria called "To use magic, you have to believe in magic"

But alas, they didn't listen right away. Rolling her eyes, Aria set up an example. Closing her eyes and summoned the dark magic within her; opening them she felt the power surging through her. Opening her palms she had fistfuls of black magic, she expertly hurled them at the Hidiacs and destroyed them,

All of a sudden there was a flash of yellow lightning coming from one side of the village, Yellow was a believer

'Lightning's my thing…' Aria thought to herself

"Guys! The magic really works!" he yelled "Just believe!"

Xander followed suit, this time tree roots shot out and attacked the Hidiacs

Blue was next and water gushed up from underneath her attackers

Pink followed her sister and turned into a pink tornado, literally blowing her opponents away

Finally, it was Red's time, but nothing happened to him he didn't believe.

Seeing this Udonna used her Snow Staff to freeze and destroy the remaining Hidiacs before de-morphing.

Aria and the others met up in a cleared part of the village "Nice job you guys" Aria praised

"That goes to you as well Aria; they would not have known how to use magic without you." She looked at the rookies "You truly are the ones. Are you up to the task? Are you now ready to accept your legacy?"

The four all agreed to the task while Red was still adamant about not joining

"I'm out of here" he declared

"You sure dude?" Aria asked

"Look, the 'I believe in magic' thing, didn't work for me"

Blue looked at him hopefully "Try believing again, maybe it didn't catch on this time"

Udonna shook her head "He is a non-believer. We can do nothing for him. Aria will see you out of the woods safely"

There was suddenly a sheep's bleat echoing through the woods "Udonna-a-a-a"

They all turned and found a sheep calling Udonna

"Claire?" she asked "Oh my dear child, when will you get your spells right?"

Aria laughed lightly before turning to the older woman, "See him safe passage out of the woods"

Aria lazily saluted and started down the path before stopping and turned around "Oh and Yellow?" she called, getting his attention "Lightning is my thing" she warned before firing a ball of lightning past his head and hitting an old tree behind him.

She turned around once more "Still got it" she sighed happily before walking again

 **To Be Continued…**

(A/N: Look! i posted on time! sort of...meh details. anyway here is the first official chapter for PRMF i hope yall like it. REVIEW and FOLLOW. thanks loves)


	4. Chapter 3

( _Disclaimer: PRMF aint mine, only Aria and her arc)_

(A/N: ITS FINALLY HERE! Im SO sorry its been like two weeks since i last updated, life has been pretty hectic since it's the end of the school year. i hope you enjoy and i know its not my best...)

 **Chapter 3: Broken Spell part II**

 **-Woods-**

Aria guided Red through the woods when he started asking questions

"So, how did you get tangled in all of this?"

Aria chuckled bitterly, thinking of her family back home "Long story…don't really feel like sharing"

"Sorry…"

A few beats of silence passed "So how long have you been in…all this?" he asked, waving his hands around

"Almost a year"

Another awkward pause

"It's snowing…" Aria said suddenly looking up to the sky and holding her hand out to catch falling snowflakes

"That's weird" Red commented, also looking up "Not a cloud in the sky"

Aria's eyes widened after coming to a realization "Oh no, Udonna!"

She almost took off before remembering Red, turning around she said "Just keep going straight, you're almost out"

She then streaked out of sight and to the entrance of Rootcore

 **-Rootcore-**

Upon entering Aria found Udonna sitting at the wooden table with the four new Mystics and Claire, still as a sheep

"Um…shouldn't we do something about that?" she asked followed by "And will someone care to explain the snow earlier?"

Udonna smiled and cast her spell to make Claire human again " _Morthay Mamoran_ " before turning to Aria "Explanations later"

Claire stood up from the ground "Why didn't you do that sooner? Do you know how hot it was under all that wool?"

Aria and the others laughed lightly as Udonna explained "If I did everything for you how will you ever learn?"

Udonna turned to face the new Mystics and handed them their respective wands again

"Now you know…don't go _anywhere_ without them" Aria repeated as she made her way over and sat on the table, Claire following her and flanking Udonna

Xander chuckled "Already learned that lesson, but to tell you the truth walking around town carrying a wand-"

He paused and they all glanced at Yellow who was waving his wand around before continuing "Well, it may be good for Chip, but…"

'Oh that's his name…' Aria thought to herself

She shared a knowing look with Claire and Udonna before the latter smiled "Very well, _Utum Zoray_ "

The four gasped in awe as their wands turned into the cell phones Aria designed.

"I hope you find these more to your generations liking"

"Cell phones…very cool" Pink praised

"Better be, took me forever making those…" Aria mumbled, shuddering at the memory. The new rangers looked over their new toys, ignoring Aria's comment. "Mystic Morphers," she stated

Udonna continued "They are activated by spell codes that you will come to learn along the journey. Now go back to the city and live your normal lives and wait until you're needed"

"Oh and remember," Aria warned "Don't tell _anyone_ …I'm lookin at you Chip", the yellow ranger's face fell

"I can show them their way out of the woods" Claire offered

"No, they must find their own way" Udonna declined before looking back at the four "Just remember, the trees are your passage"

They looked at each other confused before being ushered out by Aria and Udonna

After they left Aria looked to Udonna "So what are their names? And was with the snow?"

 **-Later-**

Nick, Xander, Chip, Vida, and Maddie. That was the new team of rangers, a little rough around the edges but what ranger team isn't? Also, Udonna apparently lost her Snow Staff to some 'knight' named Koragg. He sounded like the new Zurgane

Udonna watched the new blue ranger try to strike up a conversation with Nick, the non-believer through the crystal ball. He was still tuning up his bike and while Udonna looked on with slight disappointment in him, Claire and Aria watched their teacher warily

"Forget him girls, it is not to be…"

"Maybe…"Aria sighed

Claire sighed as well "I just don't know why the Xenotome showed five warriors and not four" the blonde's eyes suddenly grew wide as she puffed her chest out "Maybe _I'm_ the fifth warrior!" she swung her broom around, narrowly missing Udonna, before Aria stopped it in a tight grip.

"Uh…probably not dude" the ninja-turned-mystic said

"Right. We move on…" Claire agreed

"Sweep please" Udonna asked

"It's a good thing you didn't move on when I started here, any other sorceress would have tossed me to the trolls when I cracked their crystal ball, or dried up the lake, or-"

Udonna smiled "Yes there were a lot of things you had to learn"

Aria grinned "Don't forget turning yourself into a sheep!"

Claire sighed as her cheeks flushed in embarrassment, but she did have a point

After a bit of thought Aria said "Claire is right though, how many sorceresses would have taken _me_ ; the supposed Child of Darkness, as their apprentice"

Udonna grabbed their hands "You two, are people I would never give up on"

Suddenly everything clicked for Aria…that Claire is a lot smarter than she looks. Sharing a glance with said blonde they both turned to Udonna "So why are we giving up on Nick?"

Udonna looked at her students with a look of realization. A few beats of silence and she turned to Aria, "Talk to him"

 **-Briarwood-**

Aria quickly shadow traveled to Nick, the older sorceress silently cast a spell on Aria, making her invisible to everyone but Nick. She walked up unnoticed by Nick as he was trying to fix his bike. Aria was the first to speak

"It still won't run"

What Nick said to her almost made her want to kick this guy's head off "You may know about magic, but you know nothing about bikes. I just fixed it" he climbed on and revved the engine, only for it to sputter out

"Try me" Aria said through clenched teeth

Nick then looked at her as a stranger started to walk past them "Look if you messed with my bike, trying to get me to stay, you can just-"

Nick noticed the man give him a weird look "What are you looking at?" he snapped

"He can't see me dude, just you"

"Just my luck," he grumbled "As I was saying, you can undo what you did to my bike"

Aria raised her hands in mock surrender "Didn't do anything to your bike dude. But Nick, there's a reason why you're here, don't run away from it"

"Look…I know you think you need me, but you don't. You saw me back there I can't do the magic thing. I'm not your guy. Why don't you take my place? You were able to handle yourself" he replied before bending back down to his bike

"First, it's not my destiny, and second, how come you were first to volunteer to help the man find his brother?" this caused Nick to stand up again

"How'd you know about that?"

"I need help, please someone, anyone! It's my brother; we were walking just up the road when some creature grabbed him." Aria repeated from earlier that day

Realization dawned on Nick's face "No way…"

"I'd go back into disguise but Udonna casted the spell so…"

Nick just stared at her

"Because you volunteered first, it let us know that you'd be the one to lead the rangers."

Suddenly, the four teens from earlier burst through the music store across the street, Vida leading the race "Come on!" she cried

"Where are they going?" Nick asked

"Shit…there's trouble in the woods. They're going to help, but Nick, they need you"

"I'm not a leader; apparently, I can't even fix my bike"

Aria rolled her eyes and took out her wand, casting a silent spell

"I would've done it by hand but I don't have the time, isn't it about time you learn who you truly are?"

Nick looked like he was ignoring her so she stepped into the tree's shadow and melted into it.

 **-Woods-**

By the time Aria made it into the woods she found the others admiring their new training uniforms which different variations of her own in their respective colours.

"I hate pink" Aria heard Vida grumble

She made her appearance known by saying "You can go to the complaints department later, cause we got company."

From the ground a spell symbol appeared, revealing a group of Hidiacs.

"I hope every day's not gonna be like this" Maddie winced

"Oh this is just the beginning dude."

The group split up, each taking their own group of goons and like before, the newbies were thrown aside within minutes.

Aria easily fought them off and herded the new rangers together "Take out your wands, if Nick isn't here to lead you, you're stuck with me"

"Why you?" Xander asked, clutching his side

Glancing over to him, "Seniority, now follow my lead"

The five of them tore their cloaks off and grabbed their Mystic Morphers. Aria reached for her wand as it turned into a Mystic Morpher as well, but rather than black and gold like the others, hers was black and purple.

Typing in the numbers 1, 2, 3 Aria called out

"MAGICAL SOURCE! MYSTIC FORCE!"

"Calling MYSTIC RANGER!"

Leaping through a spell symbol Aria was changed into a black and purple suit. Her suit, cape, gloves, and boots were black, while the tights underneath were a deep, dark purple, as well as all the other detailing. Her helmet's visor was in the shape of a woman with wings opened wide.

"Mysterious as Shadows! Black Mystic Ranger!"

The others followed her lead and soon the others joined in their respective colours. But while her tights were purple, the other girls' were white.

"Strong as a Tree! Green Mystic Ranger!"

"Ever Changing as the Wind! Pink Mystic Ranger!"

"Fluid as the Sea! Blue Mystic Ranger!"

"Fast as Lightning! Yellow Mystic Ranger!"

"Mystic Force!"

With their newfound powers the rookies easily took the Hidiacs down. Xander used his enhanced strength to knock the goons down. Maddie easily dodged the attacks, leaping over the Hidiacs before sweeping their feet from beneath them. Her twin sister Vida used her cape to distract her opponents before kicking them in the chest. Chip used his speed to out maneuver them before kicking them to the ground. Aria, using her ninja training, used their own strength against them, knocking them to the ground.

"MagiStaff!" Aria cried. She directed in to the Hidiacs in front of her and focused, seconds later a blast of black magic erupted, causing the Hidiacs to stumble around a bit.

"Dagger Mode!" She announced before splitting her MagiStaff into two long, slim daggers. As she did in her Ninja days Aria created a ball from a mix of black magic and black lightning, a new trick she had been working on, and set it flying to the cronies, effectively destroying them.

Xander saw this and copied Aria's actions, for him vies grew from his MagiStaff and roped several henchmen together.

"MagiStaff! Axe Mode!" he called before striking the ground and sending burst of his magic to them.

Maddie followed, causing the water surrounding her to erupt where the Hidiacs were standing.

Vida was next, "Wind Power!" she commanded as huge pink butterfly wings appeared on her back and literally blew her enemies away

"Crossbow Mode!" Chip called and aimed his new weapon to his opponents. The blasts also easily destroyed the remaining creatures.

They regrouped and Aria praised the new team, "Not bad for a couple of rookies" she said lightly, prompting a round of cheers when the sky suddenly darkened and thunder rumbled.

From the ground rose an evil, creepy lookin dude surrounded by the glow of a spell symbol. He stood up, laughing evilly

"I'm back" he announced

"It's Koragg!" Xander said, taking a step back

"The guy who took Udonna's Snow Staff?" Aria asked no one in particular

"Uh huh" Maddie answered

"We can take him!" Vida yelled

"You can try" Koragg laughed evilly "But you are no match" his started to glow as a shield appeared "I call upon my Sword for the Darkness. This is your end"

"Okay…now what?" Aria asked as Koragg just stood there.

"Now you will feel the Power of Dark Magic!" he cried as hi shield opened to reveal a glowing red eye.

The four new rangers were thrown to the side as though they were blasted by the eye while Aria remained in her fighting stance. While they were knocked off their feet Aria's eyes widened as a flurry of images went through her brain, too fast for her to see anything clearly.

 **-Just Outside of Briarwood-**

Nick couldn't wait to get out of that town, but he couldn't shake off the feeling that he left something there. He made it just past the 'Welcome to Briarwood' sign when a vision of the people he met earlier that day were being blasted and knocked down to the ground. He pulled over and yanked hi helmet off, shaking his head a couple times. Suddenly Aria's voice played through his head, _"…you'd be the one to lead the rangers…"_. Looking around, he saw that he was still alone.

 **-Woods-**

Koragg was a bit taken back when he saw Aria was still standing tall "Who are you witch? You are not one of the Five"

Aria's grip on her MagiStaff tightened "None of your business bitch" she growled before racing forward. Meeting her halfway, Koragg sung his sword down. Aria blocked it with the Daggers and kicked him in the chest. He stumbled a little but stood strong within seconds. Raising his shield once more eh used the edge to slice across her chest, pushing her to the ground as well.

"I will not be merciful this time" Koragg stated, pointing his sword to the fallen rangers "Any last words?"

"Yeah, just one—HYAH!" a new voice called

Turning their heads; all of them saw the bike and leather jacket and knew that it was Nick. He leapt from his bike and aimed a kick at the Knight Wolf, which was unfortunately blocked by his shield.

"The Five…" Koragg breathed as he raised his sword to attack again

"This is as good a time as ever to start believing in magic" Nick rambled before raising his hands to try and defend himself.

To their amazement, Nick's hands glowed red as Koragg's sword swung down at him. "I DO BELIEVE IN MAGIC!" Nick screamed as he pushed Koragg away from him and the still fallen rangers.

Soon Nick's entire body began glowing as his own training uniform appeared. He had a knowing smirk on his face as his own Mystic Morpher appeared in his open hand.

"MAGICAL SOURCE! MYSTIC FORCE! Calling Mystic Ranger!"

"Fearsome as Fire! Red Mystic Ranger!"

Aria looked up at her new red ranger with pride as he welcomed his new abilities with open arms. Koragg called up a new horde of Hidiacs and Nick set to work. Transforming one into a ball and soccer kicking it to attack the others. After he transformed his MagiStaff into a sword and totally obliterated them. He even summoned the Power of the Phoenix to finish off the rest.

"Nick that was awesome bro!" Aria praised as she and the others circled around Nick

"Mystic Force!"

"Mystic Force" the others repeated before putting their hands in the middle

They broke up and headed back to Rootcore

 **-Rootcore-**

"Well done rangers" Udonna commended as the six walked through the entrance

The five rookies looked at each other with excitement while Aria went to stand beside Claire and her teacher.

"Now that you have accepted your power, you must be taught to control and use your magic" the wise witch continued "So, starting tomorrow, your training will begin. I will be in charge of you magical studies while Aria will handle the more…physical training"

Aria had an evil grin on her face

"Now, go back to the city, and live your normal lives. Speak to no one about this" she reminded sternly.

As the newbies left she turned to Aria, "I know how hard it must be to be cooped up in this dragon all the time, and you must know that I am very proud at how far you've come, so I will allow you to go into town from time to time. But only in Briarwood with the other rangers"

"No way!" Aria gasped, for almost a year she had been living inside this tree. She grew up amongst the skyscrapers and the technology of the human world so being allowed back to the Human Realm, even if only a few hours at a time, was the best thing ever

"You've shown great control over yo-"

Udonna never finished her sentence as Aria raced out the door.

 **-Briarwood-**

Stepping out of the tree Aria looked down and saw that she was back in her normal street clothes. Black shorts, baggy purple shirt, and converse. She looked across the street and found the music store the rangers had ran out of earlier that day.

Upon walking inside she found all the new rangers cleaning up the thrashed store, well all of them except Nick.

"I don't clean" she heard him say

"Diva" she teased in a sing song voice

This prompted the others to laugh

"Move out of the way Bucko" Vida said, slightly pushing Nick out of the way as Aria went to sit in an empty chair

"Okay…well as a wise old woman once said 'Do you believe in magic?'"

"Oh god…" Aria grumbled, having gone through this stage months before

She closed her eyes, opening them briefly when Chip said "Sweep like lightning" to send to small shock to the back of his head. She opened them moments later and the store was clean, just as an eccentric older man, boss presumably, walked through the door.

"It's clean…" the Boss started "Very clean…cleanest it's ever been. Maybe it's lost its edge. Have I become a Megashop?"

A new, nasally sounding voice was heard throughout the store right after "Helloo? I'm new in town, can somebody help me?" it came from a short, curly blonde

Of course, Chip and Xander raced to the girl to offer assistance but she pushed them aside to walk over to Nick

"No, sorry I don't work here"

Maddie then stepped in and spoke to the boss "You know Toby, you should really hire this guy because he was instrumental in cleaning the store"

"Wait I wasn't looking for a job"

"Who's the greatest guitarist ever?" the boss, Toby asked

"That would have to be Jimi, but-"

"You're hired!"

Poor nick was then dragged away by the blonde who was shamelessly flirting with him. Vida mocked the girl, Leelee, causing everyone to laugh.

Shortly after Xander looked down at Aria, still seated in the chair and asked "Hey, what did you mean by 'Seniority'?"

Aria winked and said "Another story for another day"

(A/N: Sooooo yeah...nothing more to say R&R)


	5. Chapter 4

_(Disclaimer: Aria belongs to me...not PRMF)_

 _(A/N: SO SORRY for the lte posts, but school has been a pain BUT school's out now so I'll be able to post on time. Maybe more than once a week!)_

 **Chapter 4: Code Busters**

 **-Woods-**

Flight training…one of the ranger's lessons for today. Though she knew how to ride the Mystic Racers she much rather preferred her old Tsunami Cycle. The Racers were created by Udonna and her magic; the Cycles were made by hand (with the help of some 'borrowed' programming from Cam).

Aria stood with her arms crossed alongside Udonna as they waited for the rangers to arrive to the finish line.

Soon all five dismounted their racers mid-flight and landed gracefully on the ground. The Racers took a second to turn back to broomsticks before falling into the rangers' hands.

"Nice" Aria nodded

"Very good rangers" Udonna praised "That's enough Mystic Racer practice for today"

"Aww come on!" Chip whined "Just one more lap around the forest?"

"Yeah" Vida agreed "I'm just getting warmed up! I wanna see what this bad boy can really do!"

"Sorry dude" Aria shrugged

"It is time for Elementary Incantations" Udonna said as the new team let out a collective groan of annoyance

"Boring" Chip and Vida said at the same time

Maddie stepped forward "Hey, I think that sounds kinda interesting"

"Only you sis" Vida grumbled

Most of the other comments made went unnoticed by Aria as her mind wandered to back to her days at the Thunder Academy

 _-Flashback-_

 _1997, only a few months since their parents' deaths, and now Hunter, Blake, and Aria were students at the Thunder Academy._

 _The three Bradley siblings focused on their weapons training; the basics of the Thunder Staff._

 _"_ _Ahem" their Sensei alerted them._

 _The three stopped what they were doing and bowed to their teacher_

 _"_ _That's enough weapons training, time for Ninja History and then meditation."_

 _Hunter and Blake silently groaned while Aria's posture straightened slightly. Aria actually was interested in Ninja History and meditation helped her calm down and relax for a little. It was a nice break from the constant fear._

 _"_ _Come along" Sensei said before turning on his heel and walking off, closely followed by the three_

 _-End Flashback-_

"Vida's right" Chip said, bringing Aria out of her thoughts "We're official superheroes now, where's the rest of the vehicles, weapons, and gadgets we get?"

"The Xenotome" Udonna answered "It holds the spellcodes that can unlock powers beyond your imagination"

"So what are we waiting for?" Vida countered "Let's bust it open, load the codes, and get our booty!"

"Doesn't work like that" Aria spoke up from the back of the group "You gotta earn those codes. Grow as a ranger and all that jazz"

The group continued walking, but Aria couldn't get her brothers out of her head.

 **-Rootcore-**

Maddie, Nick, Xander, Udonna, and Aria returned to Rootcore for their Incantations class. Aria had a blank look on her face while the blue, green, and red rangers sat at the table with thick, dusty spell books stacked high.

"Man…look at all these incantations" Xander complained "How is my brain supposed to hold this much information?!"

"Maybe this'll help" Maddie grinned as she pulled her Mystic Morpher out " _Cranior Magnus_ "

Xander's head grew at least three sizes bigger, causing Nick and Maddie to burst into giggles.

"And I thought he had a big head before" Nick added as they erupted into more giggles.

"Very funny" Xander said dryly before turning to Aria "Help?"

Aria silently waved her own Mystic Morpher and returned Xander's head to its normal size.

She turned and walked over to her room.

 **-With Aria-**

She laid on her small bed on her stomach and read over what she wrote

 _Hey guys I'm doing good, alive and well, missing you all_

She didn't know how many letters she wrote with this exact phrase on it. But it had to be done; the Magic Realm had to remain secret. More memories continued to flood her brain

 _-Flashback-_

 _Stuck it out this far together  
Put our dreams through the shredder  
Let's toast cause things got better  
and everything could change like that  
And all these years go by so fast  
But nothing lasts forever_

 _Here's to us  
Here's to love  
All the times  
That we messed up  
Here's to you  
Fill the glass  
Cause the last few nights  
Have kicked my ass  
If they give you hell  
Tell em to go fuck themselves  
Here's to us  
Here's to us  
-End Flashback-_

Tears welled in her eyes, she missed her family. Now before you say that she's over reacting, you should know that when someone spends an entire year fighting evil alongside a team a bond forms that will never disappear. Add the fact that Aria had only felt fear and pain for 12 years of her life before meeting the other ninjas.

Looking down at the sorry excuse of a letter before she crumpled it up and tossed it aside.

Exiting her room she saw that Maddie, Xander, and Nick were gone and Vida and Chip were standing by the Xenotome speaking to Udonna

"Are you kidding?" Chip exclaimed "No one knows more than me!"

Udonna smiled past him towards Aria as if to hint that there was someone who REALLY knew about being a superhero

"I've spent a fortune on video games, dvds, graphic novels, trading cards-"

"Okay okay" Vida interrupted with a small laugh

His rambling kinda reminded Aria of a certain Earth Ninja; her hand reached up to her angel charm around her neck

Udonna's expression went from playful to worry as she caught sight of the crystal ball. Rushing past the three rangers she said "Something's wrong…"

The four looked inside to find a giant green glob of a monster

"The others are in trouble, you must stop it"

"Us?! Look at that thing it's massive! We'll get pummeled" Vida exclaimed

"You might, there's only two of you and you've hardly mastered your ranger powers."

Vida continued to stare into the crystal ball, fear clearly etched on her face.

"N-no, it's not that I'm-"

"I'm totally scared!" Chip announced "Look my goosebumps! They've got goosebumps!"

"Okay, I guess I'm a little freaked…"

"You should be…" Aria said bluntly, yeah her first zord battle was against the Winds but that didn't take away the fact that fighting a giant monster wasn't slightly terrifying in of itself. And if she was correct, the Mystic Force didn't have zords…

"She's right. That creature's size and strength are unlike anything you've encountered"

"Why not Aria? She's trained with you longer" Vida tried to argue

Aria sat on the edge of the round table "I'm not one of the Five, you need to do this on your own. I'll be there to guide you, but you guys have to do this"

"Maddie…" Vida barely whispered "And Nick"

"And even Xander" Chip added "They need us"

"We have to try and help them."

"Remember, real heroes are born in the face of real danger" Udonna reminded

Getting in position Vida led the morph

"Ready?"

"Ready"

"MAGICAL SOURCE MYSTIC FORCE!"

"Calling Mysto Ranger!"

"MYSTIC POWER!"

Grabbing their broomsticks/Mystic Racers the two of them flew to a clearing where the green glob Mucor sat.

Udonna, Aria, and Claire watched the crystal ball intently as Chip and Vida made their way into the clearing. Aria leaned in closer as Vida flew circles around Mucor's head before using her Mystical Wings to make the green creature sneeze the other rangers out.

Maddie, Nick, Xander, and Vida all landed on the ground, leaving Chip up in the air. Mucor fired at the Yellow Mystic but missed every time due to his lightning speed (A/N: hehehe). Using the Crossbow mode on his MagiStaff Chip managed to get Mucor on his back while he joined his team on the ground.

Behind them the Xenotome flipped to a new page and revealed a new spell code for the rangers. Aria shared a smile with Udonna before flashing into the shadows.

 **-With the rangers-**

Aria appeared before the rangers just as the new spell codes unlocked on their morphers.

"I see you've unlocked Titan mode" she smiled

"Titan mode?" Maddie asked curiously.

Aria revealed her signature smirk "Watch and learn rookies"

"MAGICAL SOURCE MYSTIC FORCE!"

"Calling Mysto Ranger!"

Now morphed Aria punched in the code 1-0-7

"Gawlit Mysto Prifior!"

"IT'S TITAN TIME!" she called as a spell seal engulfed her in a glowing black light. Behind her helmet her eyes matched the colour of her suit

"Mystic Reaper!" she exclaimed as a giant black hooded figure emerged. It looked as though it was made of metal. Like on her helmet, Aria transformed into a giant, slim woman with a flowing black cloak wrapped around her. The hood was drawn up but it was clear that under that hood, the eyes of this titan were pitch black.

The rangers below watched in awe before following the apprentice

"Mystic Minotaur" Xander called

"Mystic Sprite!" Vida announced

"Mystic Mermaid" Maddie followed

"Mystic Garuda" Chip yelled

"Mystic Phoenix" Nick finished

The six of them stood together; Xander in the back with Vida perched on his shoulder. Nick stood in the middle, in front of Xander, flanked by Chip and Maddie while Aria hovered off to the side, making sure to stay out of the others' way. Her time as a full-time ranger was over, it was their turn now.

Mucor tried to fire at them but his attacks were futile as Chip and Nick easily ran past them and headed straight for the giant glob. Chip flew in the air and shot lightning out of his eyes while Nick followed up with a slash to the stomach. The other three took this as their cue, Vida turned into a ball, allowing Xander to swat her over to Maddie with his axe who knocked her to Chip who caught her before throwing it Nick who finally soccer kicked her to Mucor, destroying him once and for all.

The Five cheered as Aria stood by, smiling a little at this new team

 **-Rootcore-**

The rangers, minus Nick, stood in a circle around Udonna and Aria

"I'm proud of you all" Udonna praised "And you've only begun to tap into your potential of your Mystic Titans"

"Yeah but now Green Freak is gone right? So it's all good in the woods?" Maddie asked

"I-I hope so, but I don't think that was the same creature that attacked Claire" Xander reminded

"Huh?" Aria asked confused

"Remember? Earlier today Claire was talking bout how some creature was chasing her in the woods?"

"Oh…uh right"

Aria was so caught up in her funk that she didn't even realize that Claire was attacked

"Nick's investigating that" Udonna reassured

"Believe me, this is only the beginning" Aria warned before turning her heel to head to her room

"You sound like you speak from experience" Vida answered back with a quirked eyebrow

'You have no idea' Aria thought

 _-Flashback-_

 _The rangers rolled up to the coordinates Cam left and waited in their individual zords. Shane, Tori, and Aria were hovering in the air while the others were on the ground. They were all a bit nervous for this battle; they knew it wasn't going to be easy but the added pressure of being in civilian form didn't help either._

 _"Alright guys without our powers," Shane reminded" We can't take any direct hits"_

 _"Is that supposed to cheer us up?" Tori asked_

 _"'Cause it ain't working" Aria finished, her hands were gripping on the controls so hard that her knuckles started to turn white._

 _"Just be careful" Shane said calmly_

 _"How 'bout we just blow this guy away and go home?" Dustin suggested_

 _He was the first to step forward, using his Lion Tornado Blast to distract it. Tori went up next and rammed the nose of her Dolphin Zord into its side. Blake and Hunter rolled up afterwards while Aria hovered above the two._

 _"Yo whaddup dogs? Meet the beetles!" he laughed_

 _Hunter and Aria laughed lightly as well and pulled their scopes out in front of them (A/N: Are they scopes or visors?). All three zords fired at the dog simultaneously._

 _Shane flew overhead and fired at the Wolfblade as well before circling back around._

 _Next thing they knew the three faced freak was now blasting at them. Blake's Beetlezord rolled over multiple times, Hunter's Insectizord had explosions surrounding it, and Aria's Scarabzord was sparking up a storm, she ended up having to land it and only do ground assaults._

 _Then, the Wolfblade punched Dustin's Lionzord and batted Shane's Hawkzord away._

 _"Cyber Cam, any word from your twin bro yet?" Hunter asked_

 _"Yeah, cause we're getting hammered out here!" Blake added_

 _"Nothing yet!" he answered "Just hold those mutts off as long as you can"_

 _"Easier said than done" Aria exclaimed as she watched Tori get tossed aside like a ragdoll._

 _They regrouped and prayed Cam would get there soon._

 _-End Flashback-_

Aria chuckled at the memory; that was definitely one of their most memorable zord battles.

Aria was brought out of her thoughts as the other rangers' footsteps were heard running out the door.

By the time she reached the main part of the tree the other rangers were already gone. Looking into the crystal ball Ari saw the Five facing off a giant, multi-headed worm

"Okay…what the fuck?" she said

"Language Aria" Udonna reprimanded

"Sorry…"

The two watched as a new spell code unlocked, reaching for her own Mystic Morpher Aria called the others "Guys listen up, that new spell code will be able to unlock the Dragon Formation for your Titans. Maddie, Vida, Chip, and Xander, this one's all you"

"On it" they all responded before hanging up

"Oh my god...I'm turning into Cam"

Eyes glued on the ball they continued observing the rangers as they perfectly formed the Dragon. Nick leapt up into the air and landed on their back. Flying circles over the worm, the rangers dodged the attacks and blasted fire at the worm. As a final blow Nick soared into the air as the Dragon Formation blasted a ball of fire. As he had done before Nick soccer kicked the fireball into the center of the worm.

"Well done you guys…" Aria smiled

 **-Later-**

Aria had been told to accompany Nick while he went to finish gathering ingredients for Udonna. The last two times one of them had gone into the woods alone they were attacked so Udonna had now made it a rule to not wonder the woods alone. A little much but…whatever.

Aria leaned on a nearby tree while Nick looked over the list again.

"So…how did you know how to turn into a Titan? I thought only Udonna would know"

"I've been training with her for the past year, I've known how to go Titan for months now. The only difference is that I learned with a wand, not spell codes." Aria shrugged

Looking over Nick found a bunch of Stickle Berries on the ground "Oh, so these are Stickle Berries"

"Uh I wouldn't dude" Aria warned as he began to put one of the bitter, rancid berries in his mouth. She was too late however as he took a bite and a look of utter disgust spread across his face.

Aria laughed for the first time in a while "I told ya"

Nick wiped his mouth off before turning to the bush behind him "Better pick some more…"

Suddenly a horrific looking thing popped up from the bush, startling the two Mystics. Aria immediately fell into her fighting stance

"You gotta stop doing that" Nick sighed

"You know this guy?" Aria asked cautiously

Nick simply nodded and Aria's stance relaxed a little

"I've been lookin everywhere for ya" the creature said with his arms out as if waiting for a hug "I wanted to thank you for saving me"

Nick continued picking Stickle Berries "To tell you the truth, I don't think I save you so much as a monster spit you out"

The thing looked almost _disappointed_ "Rats, even that hideous beast rejected me. I don't belong anywhere. Not even in a worm's stomach" he sobbed "I'm Phineas" the creature greeted with his hand out; Nick slowly shook his hand

Soon the three of them were walking side by side through the woods in search of the other ingredients Udonna still needed.

"See, I'm a Troblin" Phineas explained "That is the unfortunate result of the union of a troll and a goblin. Both sides hate me, so I wander the forest on my own"

"Well, the reason w _e're_ out here is you helped a friend of ours" Aria told "And we wanted to thank you"

"Hope you like Stickle Berries" Nick offered

"Who doesn't?!" Phineas cried as he wolfed them down. Aria did her best not to gag at the sight

She and Nick shared a look before continuing on "Right…" they both said

"Oh, I must warn you though, young warriors, this forest is full of danger" Phineas warned

Aria scoffed "Tell me something I don't know"

"My friends and I are up against Necrolai and Koragg, can't get worse than that" Nick added

"Uh…yes, yes it can. Y-you still haven't faced… _him_ "

"Who's him?" Nick asked, stepping closer to the Troblin

"The Supreme Master of the Underworld _shhh_ "

'Well shit….' Aria thought

 **-Ninja Ops-**

Cam typed away at the computer and waited for the others to join him

"Yo whaddup Cam?" Dustin called as he, Shane, Tori, and Hunter walked into Ops.

His eyes stared into the screen as the others walked up to him "Is something wrong?" Tori asked

"I'm not sure…I was doing some checks on the Morphing Grid when-"

"Uh, why were you in the Grid?" Hunter questioned with a quirked eyebrow

"I've got nothing better to do" Cam grumbled "Anyway, I was looking through it when I found a connection to an unknown source"

"Care to elaborate?" Shane wondered as he peered over Cam's shoulder

"Well there's nothing else to go off of, but I checking over satellite surveillances when I found this"

Typing a few more keys Cam pulled up a video of six metal humanoid zords battle a giant green glob…thing

"Are those-" Tori started

"They look like zords" Dustin stated

The five of them watched the battle, but something stood out to them.

"Why is that one zord just standing there?" Tori pointed out

Cam zoomed in and focused on the black hooded zord. "I don't know, it was the first to appear but takes absolutely no part in the battle they don't even combine to form a megazord"

"Try calling Doctor Oliver" Hunter suggested "He knows every single ranger out there"

"That's a good idea, maybe we'll be able to figure out who entered the Morphing Grid"

"Good luck dude" Shane said as he clapped a hand on his shoulder before turning to walk out the door

"I'll let Blake know what's happening" Tori reassured as she and Hunter exited after Shane

All that was left was Dustin staring at the screen, the zord was black, which meant a new black ranger.

"You okay Dustin?" Cam asked

"I just miss her dude" Dustin sighed "I just wanna know where she is"

"Knowing Aria, she'll be just fine"

For once, Dustin was silent and just reached into his Sensei uniform to pull out the silver necklace Aria had given him when he left.

 **-Rootcore-**

Aria sat on top of the dragon's snout with her guitar, strumming to whatever tune would pop into her head. After a while she put her guitar beside her and laid back, staring up at the blue sky. Her hand somehow made its way to her neck and she played with the golden necklace Dustin had given her before she left.

 _(A/N: Okay it has been FAR TOO LONG since there's been a DustinxAria moment. i hope ya'll like it :) REVIEW AND FOLLOW PLEASE AND THANKS!)_


	6. Chapter 5

(Disclaimer: I don't own PRMF. Only Aria and original plot lines)

 **Chapter 5: Rock Solid**

 **-Rootcore-**

Aria was just outside the dragon's mouth meditating, one of the many ways she was able to bury her other half. Her time as a ranger and Udonna's apprentice made her aware that she should not be afraid of her powers…just very, _very_ cautious. She really didn't need another Portico Island situation.

That's another thing, Aria has gotten a lot more homesick then she already was before. Perhaps it was because she technically was a ranger again but memories of the old team kept coming back

 _-Flashback-_

 _"I can't believe you guys said no!" Dustin said in disbelief "Factory Blue, that's nuts!"_

 _"Well we have something more important to do" Aria said with the slightest smile on her face "We're in"_

 _With cries of excitement and a bit of relief Cam and the Winds all exchanged hugs and high fives with the Thunders._

 _"You have made a difficult decision;" Sensei spoke from the table "I believe it is the right one"_

 _"No lie!" Dustin agreed_

 _"Finally have another girl on the team too!" Tori added_

 _Shane finished with "You're one of us now" and with those words Aria's face brightened with a genuine smile; something she hadn't done in a very long time._

 _-End Flashback-_

That seemed like a lifetime ago in Aria's eyes, so much has happened since joining the Winds back in 2003. 2005 and she's still involved in the 'ranger world'

Her eyes widened 'Holy shit…I'm becoming Dr. O'

Suddenly Aria heard the chime of the crystal ball, signaling danger. She leapt off the top of the dragon and rushed inside "What's up?"

Udonna was speaking into the ball; she was calling the rangers "I'm sensing dark magic energy just outside the perimeter of the forest"

"Could be that thing that's been turning people into stone statues" she heard Chip say from the ball "We gotta stop it"

"Where's Maddie?" Vida questioned

Nick gave a quick response Aria was unable to hear, "I'll fill in for Maddie" she offered

The rangers voiced their agreement and disconnected from Aria and Udonna.

"See ya later Udonna" she called, a little excited at the idea of fighting evil again

 **-Forest Border-**

Aria appeared out of the shadows just as the other rangers fell from the sky.

"How'd you get here so fast?" Vida questioned

"Shadow travel" Aria shrugged

Chip rushed over to the black ranger "Whoa can you teach us how?!"

"Sorry, my magic is different from yours"

"Wait can't you control lightning?" Xander asked, Aria nodded, "Then how come you can use Chip's magic, but we can't learn to use yours?"

Before she could answer something caught her eye "Oh my god…look!"

"We're too late!" Nick cried "He's already been here"

"That's just stone cold" Vida shivered

"How do you like my rock garden?" an evil bat looking chick asked as she flew down from a tree and landed before the rangers "Soon everyone will be like they are"

"Never!" Nick countered

From behind them a creature roared. When they turned around they found a dragon looking creature

Sprinting into action Aria and Nick called for their MagiStaffs.

"MagiStaff Striker!"

"Magi Staff Daggers!"

The red and black rangers called; Nick rushed forwards first, attempting to slash the monster across his stomach and shoulder. But the creature's rock hard skin prevented any damage. He then grabbed Nick by the arms and tossed him aside.

Aria stepped forward and tried to throw her daggers into his skin, however, despite hitting her mark the daggers fell to the ground, leaving no mark on the creature as well

"What?!" she demanded

The other rangers ran forward to help their fallen leader up but the five were blasted to the ground.

"That did the trick" he mocked

"Now there's no one to stand in our way" Necrolai laughed

Aria stood up, hand lit with her black magic and eyes dark as night, and launched her ball of energy to the two. Unfortunately they disappeared in a spell symbol before Aria's attack could touch them.

Aria yelled in frustration and hurled another attack at a nearby tree before remembering what she was doing. Taking a few deep breaths she willed herself to go back to normal and help her new friends up from the ground.

"Come on, we have to follow them" she said

 **-City-**

The five rangers followed them into Briarwood by the park where they found a rock statue of Maddie

"SIS!" Vida cried as she rushed to her frozen twin

A random guy came forward as well "Maddie!" he yelled before being told by Aria to run off.

"MADDIE!" Vida cried, her voice cracking slightly as she cradled Maddie's stone face in her hands "Oh no…"

"Hard luck" Necrolai taunted

"You bitch! You're gonna pay for that!" Vida pulled out her MagiStaff "MagiStaff Wind Power!"

Vida's giant, pink butterfly wings appeared and blew Necrolai and her monster on their backs

"Want more?!"

"Foolish girl" the bat-bitch sneered "Can't you see you can't stop us? Especially now that you're down a ranger"

Once again the two disappeared, leaving a distraught Vida trying not to cry over Maddie's frozen state

"We gotta get her back to Rootcore" Aria said gently as she tried to pry Vida's hands from Maddie's face.

 **-Rootcore-**

Nick and Chip carried Maddie's frozen form while Udonna attempted spell after spell in the hopes of reviving her to her normal form.

"This creature's magic is very strong" Udonna stated as they placed Maddie on the ground "Only by destroying him can the spell be broken"

"Oh I'll destroy him alright" Vida growled "With my bare hands" she marched up the small staircase and almost made it to the door had it not been for Xander and Aria

"Whoa slow down V!" Xander called "Cool it, cool V"

"Move it Xander!" she screamed

"Listen Vida, I know if my brothers were in Maddie's position I would do the same thing" Aria reasoned "But if you out there without a plan you'll end just like Maddie"

"Aria's right, that's how Maddie got in trouble in the first place" Nick spoke as he made his way over "She shouldn't have been out there alone"

"Okay, did not say that"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Vida asked, Nick was just begging to get his ass whopped

"She probably got in over her head V" Nick continued, burying himself deeper and deeper

"Man you don't know my sister, she may be shy on the outside but inside she's got the heart of a warrior"

"Right" Nick scoffed "That's why she's hiding behind that camera"

"Dude…" Aria whispered as she looked at Nick with sad eyes

"You are so clueless" the Pink Ranger growled as she grabbed Maddie's camera and cast a spell to make it play on the old monitor Aria used to make the morphers. "Here's why she's always behind the camera"

 _-Video-_

 _Vida was at her turn tables as Maddie narrated "Introducing DJ Vida"_

 _"_ _Love you too sis!" a smiling Vida responded_

 _"_ _The BEST sister ever; way to go V!"_

 _Next was Xander fixing his skateboard "Can't forget Xander; not only a great friend but he's_ sick _on his board."_

 _Chip then appeared with a bow and a quiver full of arrows in his hands "No man has ever attempted this without losing his life" he announced dramatically_

 _"_ _Chip Thorn; known him since grammar school."_

 _Chip released the arrow and it hit the blue outer rim of the target. As he jumped around in celebration Maddie continued "There's nobody in this world quite like Chip"_

 _In the same footage Aria appeared "Aria" Maddie began "The mysterious apprentice. We don't know much about her other than the fact that she can totally kick major butt"_

 _Aria took the bow from Chip, notched an arrow and fired, easily making the center. "Maybe one day, we'll more about the mysterious Aria"_

 _Nick was the last one, "Then there's Nick, the new guy in town" he was shown by his bike, tuning it up "We don't know too much about him yet either. But I can feel it" Maddie laughed "He's something special"_

 _"_ _So, those are my friends, old and new. I know I can count on them for anything."_

 _-End Video-_

"Everyone has a different way of expressing themselves Nick" Udonna said "Maybe Madison does it through her films"

"You're right" Nick sighed "I was clueless" he walked down to the statue of Maddie "I shouldn't have gone shooting my mouth off. I'm gonna get you outta this Maddie, I promise"

At those words the Xenotome opened and revealed a new spell code, just in time as the monster reappeared in the city

"He's back. You guys ready to do this for Maddie?"

The rangers voiced their agreement and prepared to morph, Nick in the lead

"Ready?"

"Ready"

"MAGICAL SOURCE MYSTIC FORCE"

"Galwit Mysto Ranger!"

The five rangers, now morphed, grabbed their Mystic Racers and flew out Rootcore

"Galwit Mysto Areotan! "Firing engines!"

'Definitely prefer Tsunami Cycles' Aria thought to herself

Suddenly Aria and the others were attacked, looking down they saw Koragg and his goons firing blasts at them

"Go ahead and fight the monster, I'll deal with Koragg" Aria announced as she dove down.

"Be careful!" Nick called after her

"Get her Stickzoids!" she heard him command

Aria carefully stood on her racer and flipped off, landing a few feet away from Koragg. Aria easily dodged and flipped over the Stickzoids attacks.

Their attacks stopped as Koragg drew his sword "It ends here Black Ranger"

Aria took her MagiStaff in hand "That's what they all say; MagiStaff Dagger Mode!"

The two circled around each other before Koragg made the first move. He leapt into the air and attempted to slash her across the chest. Flipping away Aria lit a ball of lightning and fired at the Wolf Knight, just as she did in her Ninja Storm days. It hit him square in the chest, causing him to kneel down.

"Stop her!" he growled to the Stickzoids

Behind her helmet Aria smirked; they had no idea what was coming.

They raced towards her and fired; Aria leapt up and fire balls of black magic at her attackers. More tried to land a hit on her but she rolled out of the way and landed hard kicks to their stomachs before slashing them with her daggers. They now surrounded her from all sides thinking they had the upper hand. Aria jumped up into the air again and threw her daggers to the ground on either side of the horde of Stickzoids. Landing a few feet in front of them she snapped her fingers; black lightning and a bit of her black magic erupted from the daggers and destroyed the remaining Stickzoids.

"And that how we do it down in Blue Bay"

"Now it's my turn" Koragg announced as he stepped forward.

The two stared each other down for a second before they both leapt into the air. Aria's dagger and Koragg's sword clashed and sparks erupted, landing on the ground the battle continued, Aria blasted him again with black magic, pushing him back a few feet.

"WOLF ATTACK" he called as his shield opened to reveal a glowing red eye

This did nothing however, only showed a flurry of images in Aria's head, as unclear as they were the last time.

"What?" Koragg whispered

Aria shook her head and attacked again, this time throwing her daggers with perfect accuracy and watched as Koragg was electrocuted with black lightning, this time knocking him on his ass.

"You r magic isn't strong enough to defeat me"

"Oh really? Cause I'm not the one lying on the ground" Aria answered back "Later fucker" she called before calling her Mystic Racer and flying to meet her friends.

"We will meet again" the Wolf Knight vowed as the black ranger flew off

 **-City-**

By the time she got to the others, Chip, Vida, and Xander were on the ground while Nick sat on a new red bike.

'Oh come on! He gets the bike?!' she thought to herself

But she had to admit, that thing was sick! He raced towards Necrolai and her rock monster and fired lasers at the two; he circled back and met with the others.

"Enough is enough" Aria said, glancing at the two villains

"Agreed" Nick replied; you could almost _hear_ the smirk in his voice.

The two faced the monster and drew their MagiStaffs

"This is too easy!" the creature mocked

"I'd like to see you try!" Nick teased

The creature prepared to fire as Aria cast the spell " _Reflectus Torgo!_ "

A giant mirror erupted from the ground in front of Nick and Aria, causing the monster's attack to be reflected and hit him instead.

"Go for it Nick!" Aria cheered

He took a step forward "Power of the Phoenix!" his body was encased in a fiery red aura shaped like a phoenix. He flew through the frozen creature and blew him up into a million pieces.

All around them the frozen statues returned to normal and the rangers cheered in celebration. Which as per usual was short lived

Soon a spell symbol appeared below the pieces of their opponent. Within seconds the creature returned, this time 30 stories tall

"Why do they always grow?" Aria grumbled under her breath "Just stay dead!"

Out of nowhere Maddie returned

"Maddie! You're okay!" Vida said in relief

"Looks like I got here just in time" she smiled

Nick stepped forward, "Hey Madison, I was a jerk. I'm sorry I said you were too shy"

"Apology accepted, let's just forget about it". Maddie's morpher beeped, signaling a new spell code. "I guess we both learned something today"

"We sure did"

"Okay, hate to break this Hallmark moment" Aria interrupted "But, uh, giant dragon thing towering over us"

With a nod Maddie morphed

"Y'all have your team now; I'll meet you guys back at Rootcore"

The rangers nodded then transformed into their Titan modes while Aria raced back to Rootcore

 **-Rootcore-**

Aria practically streaked to the crystal ball just in time to witness them use Maddie's new code.

"Galwit Mysto Unios!" they called before transforming into their megazord formation.

"Oh that's sick!" Aria cheered; Udonna chuckled at her apprentice's excitement

Not even five minutes in the monster was destroyed thanks to the team's combined powers

 **-Later-**

 **-Rock Porium-**

After meeting at Rootcore, the rangers had to go back to work. They had decided to drag Aria along, claiming she's been living in a tree for a year and should be exposed to the outside world once in a while. So here she was wandering around the shop as Maddie walked around filming her friends.

While filming Vida at her turn tables the guy from earlier appeared in front of her; the other rangers watched quietly as the guy asked her out

"So I guess Madison's really trying to come out of her shell" Nick stated

"Yeah," Vida responded "But if that guy messes with my sister, he's gonna have to deal with me"

"God, you sound like my brothers" Aria chuckled "Besides; she can take care of herself.

Chip then made his way over, "Hey, uh, Aria, some guy's looking for you. He's at the front"

"Um, I don't work here…"

"He said that he knew you"

Aria frowned, the only people who knew her was the Mystics and the people she had to leave behind in Blue Bay and Reefside.

She made her way to the front of the store and she could feel her friends behind her.

She stopped dead in her tracks when she saw the guy. His wavy brown hair and gray and yellow hoodie were easily recognizable.

"Dustin?"

He turned at the sound of her voice "Aria…"

"Uh…Aria, wanna fill us in?" Vida asked

She completely ignored the question and ran into his arms

Nick whispered to the others "Um…what?"

(A/N: I hope you guys enjoyed this! Please leave a review and follow. Love y'all XOXO)


	7. Chapter 6

_A/N: This is my first original chapter so if it's shit don't hate. Enjoy_

 **Chapter 6: Reunited**

 **-Rock Porium-**

"Um…what?" Nick whispered as Maddie joined the group

Aria and Dustin broke apart, but Aria still didn't pay any attention to the others.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, slowly realizing that Udonna was not gonna be happy

"I've missed you…" he admitted

"I did too, but how-"

"Cam" he answered before she could even finished.

"Uh hello?" Vida interrupted "Introductions would be nice"

"Oh, Dustin this is Maddie, Nick, Vida, Chip, and Xander" she introduced "Guys this is Dustin"

Quick round of hellos Aria and Dustin walked out the store and stood under the tree in front of the Rock Porium "Ok seriously, how did you find where I was?"

Dustin sighed and looked to the ground

 _-Flashback-_

 _The old Ninja Storm (minus Blake) rangers stood around Ops while Cam typed away. The other rangers felt a wave of nostalgia hit them. Tori walked over and looked over Cam's shoulder_

 _"_ _Anything?" she asked_

 _Glancing back Cam answered "Not really, Dr. O got back to me and said that none of his old buddies have entered the grid for years. The only other person who would have_ any _chance at entering the grid would be-"_

 _Cam sat up as the realization hit him. He typed some more before pulling up multiple satellite feeds._

 _The others now made their way over "What are you looking for?" Shane questioned_

 _"_ _The rangers who own the zords we saw a few weeks ago"_

 _Minutes later the master hacker got footage of five rangers, red, black, pink, green, and yellow, fighting a dragon looking monster. Another video appeared of the black ranger fighting a purple and black armored man._

 _The rangers watched both videos closely "What exactly are we looking for?" Hunter wondered_

 _Cam sighed and rolled his eyes "Watch the black ranger"_

 _He zoomed in on the video of the black ranger fighting on her own as the others leaned in closer_

 _It didn't take long for them to recognize the fighting style, they all only knew of one person who was able to fight as well and precise as this new black ranger_

 _"_ _ARIA?!"_

 _-End Flashback-_

"So Cam was able to find where those fights took place" Dustin finished explaining

"Not that I love having you here now but, what the hell was Cam doing looking into the grid?"

Dustin laughed "He got bored"

Aria laughed as well, "He's gonna get arrested"

From across the street the others watched

"I think this is the first time I've actually seen her smile" Xander remarked

"Oh shut up Xander," Vida shot "Don't be jealous that she already had a boyfriend"

Xander grumbled something under his breath in response

At that moment their morphers binged, alerting another attack

"Wasn't there an attack a few hours ago?" Maddie complained as they rushed out the store

With Aria she checked her Mystic Morpher and saw her team rush out the store.

"Duty calls huh?" Dustin chuckled

Aria groaned "Not necessarily, I only fight with them if they need it. I'm just their backup…it sucks"

Dustin smiled down at the curly haired girl in his arms

 **-Later-**

Aria and Dustin walked around Briarwood hand in hand when her morpher went off

"Yo"

"Aria!" Nick yelled through "We need your help" he breathed, clearly in pain and out of breath

"What happened?"

"This guy is beating the shit outta us, we need help"

"On my way"

"I'm guessing now they need help?" Dustin asked

"Yeah, I gotta go, I'll meet you later"

A kiss on the cheek and she was gone, running off towards downtown

"So that's what it feels like…" Dustin mumbled

 **-Downtown-**

Aria appeared and saw the friends morphed and on the ground groaning in pain. A few feet away stood someone who had an eerily similar appearance to Marah and Kapri.

She had a slim figure and was clad in a dark grey suit much like Kapri's. She had two long katanas strapped to her back. Her skin was an ugly shade of green and her face was a mix of beauty and horror. Her eyes were entirely white, her nose was similar to a snake; her lips were black with fangs sticking out from her bottom lip. She had long black hair tied up in a sleek ponytail, pulling her face tight

'Talk about major under bite…' she thought

"You are you?" Aria demanded

"Mistress of combat, Bellator!" she boasted "Bow down, or suffer the same fate as your friends"

"I don't think so"

Aria charged forward, unmorphed, and attacked. The battle was intense the two relying on their hands and feet only. The other rangers watched in awe, they had never seen Aria fight like this before. Aria threw a roundhouse to Bellator's stomach; unfortunately she caught the girl's foot and threw her aside.

Suddenly, with a shriek Bellator was swallowed by the ground. Looking behind her Dustin was in his fighting stance

"Hey get outta there!" Nick cried, still struggling to get up like the others

Dustin ignored him and yanked off his street clothes, revealing his Sensei Earth Ninja uniform. Aria got up and joined him; side by side they fell into their fighting stances.

Bellator managed to jumped out of the ground and land in front of the young couple

Bellator attacked again and Aria and Dustin did all they could. Dustin rushed forward only to drop to the ground and trip Bellator he tried to drop kick the fallen villainess but his leg was blocked and he was knocked to the ground.

"Dustin!"

Aria ran forward, eyes darkening, and tried to match the creature's speed and accuracy. However, even she was unable to catch up and was also tossed aside

"Ugh, next time you fools" she cackled before a spell seal appeared and she vanished

The others stumbled over to the fallen ninjas who were struggling to stand up.

"Are you guys ok?" Maddie asked

"We're fine Maddie" Aria responded

"What was that?" Chip asked Dustin in wonder.

The two glanced at each other before the entire group headed to the woods

 **-Woods-**

"Okay, can someone explain how the ground just swallowed that Bellator chick?" Xander asked

Aria nodded her head at the former yellow ranger who walked a few feet away from the others and dove into the ground, later appearing right in front of the Five.

"Whoa how'd you do that?!" Chip asked excitedly "Are you a Mystic too?"

Aria glared at the red head who immediately shut his mouth

"Mystic?" he asked

"We'll do this order okay" Aria sighed, there was no avoiding it "Dustin and I are ninjas, we trained for years at secret ninja academies"

"I'm sorry what?" Nick said in disbelief

"Ninjas dude" Dustin grinned

"Do you guys remember hearing about those Ninja Storm power rangers? Down in Blue Bay Harbor?"

Chip was beaming again "Of course! I used to watch them on the news all the time!"

Aria and Dustin glanced at each other with a knowing look

"No way…" Xander breathed "So when you said you had seniority..."

"It was because this is my second round at being a ranger; it's also how I was able to make your morphers"

"No fuckin way" Vida exclaimed, only to get nudged by her twin for her language

"So what's a mystic exactly?" Dustin asked again

The black ranger turned to face him, "You know how we learn magic to help activate our elemental powers?" he nodded "Well, there's a whole other world that lives along-side us; a magical realm with mythical creatures, monsters, troblins, etc."

"Troblins?" Dustin questioned

"I'll tell you later. Anyway Dustin, a Mystic is someone who possess and controls magic. And we're all Mystics…" Aria admitted, gesturing to herself and the Five. "Nick is fire, Vida – wind, Xander – Forest, Maddie – Water, and Chip – Lightning"

"Haha, I thought lightning was your thing" Aria rolled her eyes at him

"Come on, we should head to Rootcore and tell Udonna. Maybe we could figure out how to beat this chick" Nick said after a few beats of silence.

"Agreed"

 **-Rootcore-**

The second they entered Rootcore Udonna hurried over "Rangers are you alright? I saw the battle; this Bellator is a fearsome opponent"

"You got that right" Xander muttered, flinching at the memory

"If it wasn't for Aria and Dustin, we'd probably be even more black and blue than we are now" Chip agreed

"Dustin?" Udonna repeated

Dustin shyly stepped forward, raising a hand in a meek wave. Udonna gave Aria a stern look

"We will discuss this later. However, I must thank you for helping the rangers in their battle."

"Anytime…"

"She barely used any magic" Maddie said, thinking back to their battle.

"Well she was the 'Mistress of Combat'" Vida mocked

"She was hard to beat, I haven't met someone with that much combat training since our Ninja Storm days" Aria admitted "I think I'm getting a little rusty"

"Are you kidding?" Vida exclaimed "You two were the only ones able to take that thing on"

The two ninjas smiled at the compliment when Dustin came up with one of his rare good ideas. "Well, we do know some other people who fight like us, maybe they'd be able to help"

Aria's eyes lit up "Are you serious?!" looking to Udonna "Can we? This could be our best bet at beating this girl"

Udonna sighed and after a few minutes of thought she agreed "Perhaps your old friends finding out about this world would benefit our team."

Aria was close to tears, could this really be happening? Almost a year since she had seen her family and now she had the chance to go home

As if he read her mind Dustin grabbed hold of her hand, reaching in his uniform to pull out his communicator

"Cam, I'm heading back with a few friends, they need our help"

 **-Later-**

"So how do we get to Blue Bay? Cause I'm not sitting in a car with Xander for the next couple hours" Vida complained

Rushing into her room Aria returned with an image of the rangers standing in front of the waterfall that led to the Wind Ninja Academy. It was taken the day they all graduated.

"Here" she said handing it to them "Picture this in your heads"

"How are you getting there?" Nick asked

Aria smirked "You'll see when we get there"

The Five shrugged and headed to the large tree outside of Rootcore. Dustin's eyes widened when they walked through the portal

"Dude!" he laughed

Aria playfully rolled her eyes before pulling him along, "Come on, it's been a while since I've ninja streaked"

"Ready?" he asked

Aria nodded and the two took off in streaks of black and yellow

 **-Waterfall-**

Aria and Dustin arrived first as she predicted, what she did not expect was the face plant that occurred when they stopped. Dustin helped her up with a laugh "Yep, definitely rusty" Aria groaned

Soon they were joined by the Five, "Whoa how'd you get here so fast? Didn't we leave before you?"

"Ninja streaking, we'll show you another time" Aria explained "Now follow us. Cam knows we're coming right?"

Dustin nodded and the two made their way to the water fall. Behind them the new rangers were slowly making their way across, afraid that they'd fall into the water. Aria couldn't help but grin at the sight. When all seven were finally together in the center Aria and Dustin made the hand gestures that opened the hidden door to the Wind Academy.

 **-Wind Ninja Academy-**

"Welcome to the Wind Ninja Academy" Dustin introduced

The Five looked around in awe, clearing sticking out with their Mystic Training uniforms. Aria grabbed her own Mystic uniform and ripped it off, revealing her old ninja suit underneath.

"Still fits" she grinned

They walked past some of the students, some of whom were Earth ninjas and bowed to Dustin, before making their way to Ninja Ops.

Walking down the narrow steps Dustin looked back "They should all be here by now"

And he was right, when the doors opened the entire team was there.

"ARIA!" they all greeted

One by one she hugged and greeted her family, adding a few extra seconds with Hunter and Blake.

"I've missed you guys so much" she smiled " Blake what are you doing here?"

"Cam called and said you were coming home. They let me the weekend off so I could see you guys again" he smiled

"Well good cause we need help"

That's when the questions came rolling in,

"Where were you?"

"What happened?"

"Who are they?"

Aria then had to repeat all she said to Dustin back to her friends; the Magical Realm, her return as black ranger, etc. and make the introductions between the two teams.

"Guys, this is my old team Shane, Tori, Cam, Blake and Hunter. And this is Maddie, Vida, Xander, Chip, and Nick"

A quick explanation later and now everyone was caught up to speed "So this, Bellator doesn't rely on magic like the other creeps you've faced?" Tori summarized

"Pretty much; and we need your help teaching these guys. None of us can rely on our magic too much, we need to defeat her in combat" Aria said

"Why though? Look at Aria, just throw one of those death ball things and she'll go poof." Shane tried

Maddie shook her head "When we tried using our magic to attack she kept dodging our attacks, we couldn't land a hit. We have to get up close and personal"

"They have basic combat training, but it wasn't enough. We thought it would be best to have them learn from the best fighters we know"

The Ninjas grinned at one another before Shane spoke up "We'd love to help"

"Perfect" she grinned

The two teams merged, each Sensei taking on their own Mystic. Tori and Maddie worked together, as they both controlled water. Vida was taught by Shane, Xander with Dustin, and Hunter and Blake took on Chip and Nick. They trained for hours and already Aria saw the improvement in her friends.

She told her friends everything, okay almost everything. She couldn't afford to admit what she truly was, a Child of Darkness. Both teams knew of her powers, but the Mystics didn't know just how powerful they were. And the Ninjas didn't know what she was. As her friends sparred in the open courtyard Aria stared down at her hands as they lit with the black magic she was born with.

"Aria!" Hunter called

Her magic disappeared and she stood "What do you want?!" she called back jokingly

The entire group was circled in the center of the courtyard "Your turn!"

Aria leapt down and faced off her older brother. They circled each other but before they could start the Mystics' morphers went off

"Ah the good ol' days" Shane joked lightly

"She's back" Aria stated "We gotta get back"

"We can't fight her!" Chip panicked

"We haven't even been training that long!" Maddie added

"Imma tell you something" Aria said "Shane, Tori, and Dustin were NOT the best in their class. If my memory serves me right our Sensei said they were late to almost every class and had little control over their elements. But look at them now. They saved the world and graduated from the academy early."

"She's right" Tori said "You guys got this. And you won't be alone, we'll come with you"

"No guys, you have to stay at the academy"

"Dude, we live at the academy, we need a change of scenery" Shane laughed

"Okay, well let's go then" she smiled before the two team headed to Briarwood

 **-Briarwood-**

By the time they reached the city Bellator was there wreaking havoc. The eleven rangers stood in a line and prepared to face her.

"Hey Bellator!" Aria called as stepped forward "Remember us?"

"You fools" she sneered "You can't possibly believe you can face me"

"Try us, Ready guys?"

"Ready!"

"MAGICAL SOURCE MYSTIC FORCE!"

"Gawlit Mysto Ranger!"

"Strong as a Tree – Green Mystic Ranger!"

"Ever changing as the Wind – Pink Mystic Ranger!"

"Fluid as the Sea – Blue Mystic Ranger!"

"Fast as Lightning – Yellow Mystic Ranger!"

"Forceful as Fire – Red Mystic Ranger!"

"Mysterious as the Shadows – Black Mystic Ranger!"

"MYSTIC FORCE!"

"Nice suit dude" Dustin grinned

"How sweet" Bellator sneered "Now let's fight!"

The rangers attacked, Aria and Nick were paired up and the others were in the same groups as before. Maddie and Tori used fluid and quick movements, Shane and Vida's style was fast and sharp. The dirt boys, Xander and Dustin, had strong hits and used the environment around them to fight her off. Cam used his Samurai Ninja training to try and overpower her. The remaining five all had the same style, precise strikes and fast movements.

First the Mystics had their turn at trying to weaken the warrior, but were unsuccessful. The Ninjas tried next but suffered the same outcome.

"You fools, there's no way you mere mortals could defeat me! Surrender now and I may end your life quickly"

"Forget it" Aria growled

"Very well" she smirked as she drew one of her katanas and prepared to strike. But to everyone's surprise, when Bellator swung her blade down, she was blocked by Aria. The black ranger had her arms crossed in front of her face, glowing with her black magic. Aria pushed her away, causing Bellator to fall on her back.

Aria, with her eyes black and glowing, towered over her. "No one threatens my family" she growled. Bellator hissed as she jumped back onto her feet. The two circled each other until Bellator made the first move. With the added strength from her magic Aria was able to land more hits and block most of her attacks. Soon, one by one, the others joined her. Cam fought her hand to hand in order to distract her. Allowing Maddie and Tori to rush by, Maddie slashing her with her MagiStaff and Tori using a jet of water to attack. Vida also used her MagiStaff and Shane used his power over air to blow her over to Dustin and Xander. Dustin sunk her into the ground And Xander followed up with his Axe Mode. Next was Blake who distracted her long enough for Chip to fire his crossbow. Hunter fought her hand to hand before holding her still for Nick to use his sword to cut across her stomach. She knelt to the ground in pain and looked up at Aria

"How?" she asked

"I told you" Aria said as she drew her daggers "No one threatens my family"

Crossing them to form an 'X' Aria formed a ball of lightning at the center and hurled it at Bellator.

She let out a shriek as she finally collapsed in a heap. Explosions erupted around her.

The rangers celebrated their victory which unfortunately was short lived as Bellator returned as a giant.

"They still grow after every battle?" Blake complained "You'd think they'd just give up"

"Come one guys we got this" Nick reassured as the Five transformed into their Titan forms.

"Wait, so _they_ become the zords?" Cam asked in disbelief

"The power of magic Cam" Aria joked

Bellator was clearly weakened as her attacks were slow and sloppy. After transforming into their megazord the Five were easily able to destroy her once and for all within a few minutes.

When they returned to the ground they de-morphed and celebrated their victory.

 **-Later-**

 **-Rootcore-**

Both teams stood in the center of the room, it was the Ninjas turn to stare and look around in awe.

"Well done rangers, I am very proud of your teamwork and your improvement in your combat skills. I trust Aria will continue your training here" Udonna praised

"You got it" the black ranger answered

"Awe why can't we go back to the Academy?" Chip whined "It was a real NINJA school!"

"I'm afraid not Chip, I'm sure the students at the Academy would wonder why you five suddenly started training at their school." Udonna said "Which reminds me," she turned to the Ninjas "Thank you for helping them with their training and I must apologize for making Aria keep this a secret. And now I must ask you the same; please do not let anyone know this world exists. The people and creatures of this realm live in fear of not just the dark magic that lurks around but the human world as well. It is key that you never tell anyone of what you've seen in these woods."

"Of course Udonna, we will respect your wishes." Cam said

"And hey, feel free to come over anytime, you're a part of our crazy ranger family now" Tori smiled

"Oh and if you guys ever wanna hang, I can get you guys passes to some of my races" Blake offered, wrapping an arm around his girlfriend's shoulders

"Races?" Maddie questioned

"Our dear brother rides moto for Factory Blue; he's been touring the country for the past year and a half" Aria explained

"No way! Factory Blue?!" Xander exclaimed "I've seen some of your races online!"

"Wait he's your brother?" Nick questioned with a confused look on his face

Hunter, Blake, and Aria all said "Adopted" at the same time

"We keep learning more and more stuff about you today huh?" Vida teased, causing Aria to roll her eyes.

A bit more idle chatter and then Dustin said "Hey, before we go," he turned to Aria "How about a song?"

"And add another thing to the list of things we learned about you" Vida joked

"Ignoring that, and it's been a while"

"Oh come on Ri, we haven't heard you play in forever" Hunter begged

"Yeah Ri, for old time's sake" Blake added

Aria sighed and finally agreed. Running to her room to grab her guitar she began to play a song she had come up with a while back.

 _I think I've had enough  
I might get a little drunk  
I say what's on my mind  
I might do a little time  
Cause all of my kindness  
Is taken for weakness_

 _Now I'm FourFiveSeconds from wildin'  
And we got three more days 'til Friday  
I'm just tryna make it back home by Monday mornin'  
I swear I wish somebody would dare me  
Ooh, that's all I want_

 _Woke up an optimist  
Sun was shinin', I'm positive  
Then I heard you was talkin' trash  
Hold me back, I'm 'bout to spaz_

 _Yeah, 'bout FourFiveSeconds from wildin'  
And we got three more days 'til Friday  
I'm tryna make it back home by Monday mornin'  
I swear I wish somebody would try me  
Ooh, that's all I want_

 _And I know that you're up tonight  
Thinkin', "How could I be so selfish?"  
But you called 'bout a thousand times  
Wondering where I've been  
Now I know that you're up tonight  
Thinkin' "How could I be so reckless?"  
But I just can't apologize  
I hope you can understand_

 _If I go to jail tonight  
Promise you'll pay my bail  
See they want to buy my pride  
But that just ain't up for sale  
See all of my kindness  
Is taken for weakness_

 _Now I'm FourFiveSeconds from wildin'  
And we got three more days 'til Friday  
I'm just tryna make it back home by Monday mornin'  
I swear I wish somebody would tell me  
Ooh, that's all I want  
FourFiveSeconds from wildin'  
And we got three more days 'til Friday  
I'm just tryna make it back home by Monday mornin'  
I swear I wish somebody would tell me  
Cause that's all I want_

The rangers applauded and soon it was time for the Ninjas to return to Blue Bay. Once again they all stood in a line as Aria hugged each one of them, this time was different though. It wasn't goodbye, it was 'see you later'. Aria was given permission to head to Blue Bay whenever she pleased no that they knew why and where she left. Sadly, Lila, Desi, and Nami still couldn't know as they were normal people.

Anyway the Ninjas all took off, streaking back to Blue Bay, leaving Aria and Dustin to themselves.

"Here, I should probably give this back" Dustin said before taking out Aria's silver necklace.

"You kept it!"

"Never took it off"

Aria played with the ring a little bit before handing it back to him. "No, I gave it to you. You have this and I have this" she said as she took out the gold necklace he had given her "You return that necklace when I come home and all of this blows over"

Pocketing it again Dustin wrapped his arms around Aria one last time, pressing his lips to the side of her head.

"I'll see you soon ok?" Dustin said

Aria smiled "Try and stop me" she looked up and pressed her lips onto his. Seconds later they broke apart and with one last goodbye he streaked off back to Blue Bay.

She played with the little gold angel and began walking back to Rootcore, relieved that she didn't have to hide from her family. Well, not hide as much…

* * *

 _A/N: So I know it's really early for a team up but I couldn't help myself. I wanted Aria to be with her family again. Also, I won't be posting next week cause I'm going on vacay. Anyway REVIEW AND FOLLOW! xoxox_

 _Song: FourFiveSeconds (cover by Astrid S)_


	8. Chapter 7

_(Disclaimer: PRMF isn't mine, only Aria and her plot)_

 **Chapter 7: Whispering Voices**

 **-Rock Porium-**

Aria was standing outside the Rock Porium guitar in hand playing one of her old songs, _Just Like Fire_ , when Nick walked up.

"You playin again?"

Aria smiled down at the scratched up guitar in hand. "Yeah," she looked back up at the red ranger "You know since I saw all my old friends again I've been getting my muse back"

"Well keep at it" Nick grinned before walking inside.

Aria smiled in response and kept playing, soon people started crowding around her, dropping cash into her open guitar case at her feet. Some were even wandering into the shop.

After her song the small crowd applauded and dispersed. She smiled and thanked the crowd before packing up. Right when she bent down to put her guitar away a voice was heard

 _"_ _You're not wanted anywhere. Leave before it's too late"_

'What the fuck?' she thought before briskly walking through the tree and into the woods

When she got to the other side the voice came back stronger than before which made her knees buckle, her head started pounding, and her eyes were starting to turn black again

 _"_ _Nobody wants you here. Leave now"_

Aria frowned in confusion before making her trek to Rootcore.

 **-Rootcore-**

"Oh, hello Aria-" Udonna greeted but Aria so lost in her thoughts that she made a beeline for her room and shut the door

Sitting down on her bead she tried to make sense of what she was hearing. She thought she and the others were becoming good friends. Maybe she was wrong.

'Do they know what I am? Have they heard the prophecy? Do they not trust me?'

She rubbed the temples of her head to try and soothe the ache but nothing was working. Her mind was racing a mile a minute; there was no way they could've found out…right?

She was about to walk out of her room when she heard Maddie, Chip, Xander, and Vida talking

"You know what I've noticed about Aria?" Maddie said

"What?" Vida asked her sister

"In all of the books we've read about the Mystics and our powers"

"But…"

"But I haven't seen anything about Aria's magic"

Vida's brow furrowed

"What are you saying?" Xander asked

"Don't you ever wonder where it comes from? I mean we've all seen how powerful it is."

They all shared a look of agreement while Aria slipped back into her room.

She was right; how did she get her magic. As far as she knew these powers just appeared out of nowhere.

With her head still pounding she sat down on her bed, head in hands.

Suddenly the voice appeared again and her head felt like it was being pounded with a brick

 _"_ _Why should they rust you? You can't even trust yourself. You don't even know where you're from"_

Aria buried her head into her pillow and screamed, the pain was too much and to be honest she kinda agreed with the voice. But that didn't mean she enjoyed hearing the truth. She didn't know where she was from, she was found in the woods for shits sake.

Her eyes clamped shut and she saw a vision, a vision of a baby wrapped in a familiar purple blanket. The baby had a mop of black hair on its head and was screaming and crying. Suddenly a huge mass of black energy appeared in front of the baby.

Aria moaned in pain as the vision repeated itself over and over again.

After what felt like forever the pain subsided but the ache was still there

 **-Later-**

 **-Rock Porium-**

After the pain disappeared Aria decided to visit her friends. She made her through the trees and ended up in front of the Rock Porium

There she was greeted by Nick fixing his bike and the other rangers marching towards him

"Hey Aria" they greeted before turning their attention to Nick

"Hi Nick" Xander started

"Hey" the two replied back

"Look Nick, there's $1000 missing from the store" Maddie continued

Nick stopped working on his bike looked up at the blue ranger. He stood up and Aria walked forward to stand between Nick and the others.

"Oh, I get it, I'm the new guy. I must've stolen it right? I charmed my way into your lives just to rip you off. Is that it?" Nick demanded getting louder as he continued.

He straddled his bike and started to put his gloves on

"Yeah well, that just about covers what we're thinking" Chip confirmed

"Great…And I thought you guys were my friends"

"Guys that's a lot to accuse of someone, someone else probably took it. Y'all get a lot of customers walking through there" Aria tried "Besides, I'm new too, this entire time I've been living in the woods, I only came into Briarwood the same time as Nick."

"I can't believe I actually thought…never mind" Nick grumbled "Thanks Ri, but it's clear I'm not trusted around here" with one last glare at the others he pulled his helmet on and sped off

"Maybe we made a mistake…" Maddie said after he left

Aria was getting pissed, this was so unfair. She started to feel her eyes changing

"He just took off. Didn't even deny it" Xander spat

"Did you guys forget that you're Mystics?" Aria growled as she pushed her way past them and into the store.

The others rushed after her inside. She burst into their boss's Toby's office, thankfully he was out on break or something, and hacked into his computer. She was able to hack into security footage and found the culprit. The face was blurry but it was clear that it was a blond, curly haired girl who hid the money behind the register.

Aria, still fuming, pushed herself out of the chair and marched out the office where the others were waiting. She reached behind the register and snatched the envelope.

She shoved it into Xander's hand and he jumped a little when he looked into her eyes, they were pitch black.

She then stormed off to try and calm down and find Nick

Xander looked down and swallowed, little bits of the envelope were burned away where Aria touched it

Before she walked out she heard Xander say "You're right, her magic is nothing like ours…"

Those words snapped Aria out of it, they were right, 'My magic destroys, theirs protects…what's wrong with me?' she thought

She continued walking down the street when the voice appeared again

 _"_ _You see? They don't trust you. Everyone questions you."_

She had enough "What do you want?" she yelled, thankfully she was alone, she would've looked crazy or something if someone was around

 _"_ _Meet me at the beach and find out"_

Aria clenched her fists and growled and streaked to the beach closest to Briarwood.

 **-Beach-**

To her surprise she found Nick

"Aria?" he question "What are you doing here?"

"I was gonna ask you the same thing"

A third voice was then heard "I am here Red and Black Ranger"

"You" the two said at the same time

"I should've known" Aria growled

"I spoke the truth," Koragg began "No one trusts either of you. No one wants you except me. I want you for your power!"

Koragg opened his shield to reveal the Red Eye once again Aria only experienced a flurry of visions while Nick was thrown up into the air

"Nick!" she cried as she raced over to help him up

"Fight me!" Koragg commanded

"Yeah, if it'll get you outta my head" Nick snarled

"You too huh?" Aria asked, staring Koragg down

Nick nodded before pulling his morpher out

"Ready?"

"Ready"

"MAGICAL SOURCE! MYSTIC FORCE!"

"Galwit Mysto Ranger!"

"MagiStaff Striker!"

"MagiStaff Daggers!"

Staring each other down one last time Nick and Aria rushed into action. Taking turns attacking Koragg; the two fought together as though they've been doing it for years. Koragg tried to go offensive which really didn't work for him. While he was attacking Nick, Aria formed a ball of lightning between her daggers and shot it at the knight. That distracted him long enough for Nick slash his sword across his chest.

Koragg then turned his attention to Aria. Swiping for her head she bent backwards before straightening up again to slash him across his stomach.

He growled in frustration and went mad. He sent a flurry of attacks and the two rangers were unable to keep up.

He sent the two flying and landing on their backs. They quickly got up, getting pissed at Koragg even more so than before only to be met with an explosive hit from him, their suits sparked and smoked and they cried in pain as they were thrown to the ground again.

"Neither of you are as formidable opponent as I thought" Koragg said as he sneered at the two rangers at his feet

The two leaned on each other to get up; groaning in pain as they did so

"Your powers are weak" Koragg continued "You have not learned to harness your magic. Your defeat will be swift"

"We ain't as weak as you think pal!" Nick announced as they both finally got up again

"Power of the Phoenix!"

"I summon the Darkness Within!"

For Nick a fiery red aura surrounded him while Aria's was pitch black. Both auras took shape into their respective creatures; the Phoenix and the Reaper. The mix of the two knocked the Knight Wolf on his back in a fiery explosion

"It's on now!" Aria cheered as she and Nick raced forward, swords and daggers raised over their heads.

"You're more powerful than I expected" Koragg admitted "Wolf Attack!"

His shield opened once again blasting Nick away and distracting Aria for a few moments.

"Nick!" she ran over to her leader and helped him up

Koragg attacked once again, this time with no mercy. The battle was intense and Nick and Aria were getting tired. Soon all three of them were locked together

"You will be defeated today! That I promise you!" he vowed

They broke apart but before either ranger could attack Koragg slashed both their stomachs with a single blow.

"And now young rangers, you will meet your destiny."

"No!" they both cried as Aria shielded Nick with her body to try and protect him. He was one of the Five, the world needed him more her. But the blow never came as Koragg was shot by Chip and his crossbow

"Hang on guys!" Xander called as he and the others rushed to aid their fallen friends

Xander leapt into the air and struck the ground with his axe

"Nick! Aria! You alright!" the girls asked as they helped the two up

"We know you didn't steal the money Nick" Xander said in a quick apology

"We're sorry we jumped to conclusions" Vida added

"Actually, it was Xander's fault" Chip laughed

"We let our imaginations run away with us. It was all of our faults" Maddie said

"Uh, I proved y'all wrong!" Aria pointed out

"Yeah! It was your faults. Maybe if you should thought of that before. Aria was the only one to stand up for me!" Nick agreed

"Look out!" Xander warned when he noticed Koragg walking up to them

"Now that you are all here, I shall finish this!" he announced _"Usay Rejor Contestuous! Samba Gunitos Equestras!"_

"Oh no that's the spell he used to defeat Udonna!" Maddie warned

"Looks like it's time to zord up. Go guys!" Aria commanded

"No, come with us. We could use your fire power" Nick said

Aria smiled behind her helmet and nodded, getting in line with the others.

"Galwit Mysto Prifior!"

They formed their dragon formation with Nick on their backs while Aria flung open her cloak to reveal that it also acted as a pair of wide black wings to help her soar the skies. With her wings now open Aria's Titan was shown to be wearing black and purple armor. They all fired upon completing their transformations while Koragg headed towards them. He leapt high into the air to meet the Five causing him to lock swords with Nick. "You will never defeat me!" Koragg vowed

"Oh shut up" Aria commented as she soared above him and sent a blast of black magic into his chest.

Koragg fell back to the ground and attempted to use his shield against them. Seeing this, Aria flew to her friends and used her large wing-span to provide some cover for them. She groaned in pain as the flurry of images appeared in her mind. The final image she saw was a giant glowing red eye in a dark, smoky hole.

She shook her head to clear her thoughts in time for her to watch as her team flew over her and fire their own attack on Koragg.

"Now we've got you right where we want you!" Nick boasted

"Now I have a new power! _Usay Migor Ultimas_!" their opponent called "Centaurus Wolf Megazord!"

If it were possible, their eyes widened in shock at the new megazord standing in front of them.

"The time has come to take this fight to a new level! DARK SOURCE EVIL FORCE!"

Aria landed on the ground and looked up as her friends were forced to land by some invisible force

"Guys what's wrong?" she asked with worry

"We can't combine!" Nick said

"I shall use your own magical powers against you, as I summon the evil Morticon from the Underworld!" Koragg announced

"No!" Aria cried

"Rise Morticon, RISE!"

In the space between Koragg and the Rangers a glowing blue spell seal appeared. It looked like a horror movie with the way Morticaon crawled himself from the ground.

"Free at last!" the new villain laughed evilly

"No way!" Nick breathed

"Now that I am released from that evil cell, I shall run this dimension as the most powerful warrior of all time! Let's finish this Koragg! DESTROY THEM!"

Morticon rushed for the six rangers while, to their surprise, Koragg just stood behind him. Morticon and Nick were stuck in a sword fight with Aria sending blasts of her magic here and there but Koragg remained still in the back. Morticon grabbed the rangers and easily tossed them over his shoulder at Koragg's feet.

"Dark Magic Spell Seal!" Koragg said

The spell was sent to the six and sent them sparking and smoking. Nick was thrown off the others as they lay still on the ground. Nick and Aria were the only ones left standing. Turning around Morticon towered over them with his sword raised. "How does it feel Mystic Rangers?" he asked as he slashed down on them. Aria tried to use her wings to provide cover for both of them but her efforts were futile. They were tired and weakened from this long battle. "This will be my finest hour!" Morticon said as he continued his relentless attacks. He pushed down Aria into the ground and wrapped around Nick's neck "The day I destroy the leader of the Mystic Rangers! Join me for the final strike!" he said to Koragg

Yet he just stood there, the glowing red eyes of his megazord went from Nick trapped in Morticon's grip and Aria struggling to get up and help her friend.

"My work is done. The Master will be pleased" he answered

"Have it your way Koragg" Morticon raised his sword to prepare for the final strike when Aria and Nick caught each other's gaze. There was like some unspoken bond between the two rangers and with a nod of their heads they shot up into the air.

"RED MYSTIC RANGER!"

"BLACK MYSTIC RANGER!"

Glowing in their respective colours Aria extended her wings and took off as Nick leapt into the air.

"What's happening?!" Morticon demanded

"COUNTER SPELL!" the two called at the same time.

A spell seal in a strange combination of red and black appeared below Morticon before swallowing him whole into the ground. "Koragg do something!" he demanded

"That's impossible" the Knight Wolf whispered "How could they counter my spell?"

With a final cry Morticon fell back into the Underworld as Aria and Nick came back down to the ground. Suddenly that burs of power was gone and they both fell to their knees

"I don't know how you did that Mystic Rangers, but I have your Megazord Power now."

"No!" they cried one last time before collapsing

 **-The Next Day-**

After the battle Nick had pulled Aria aside, "Hey, uh, why do you think Koragg chose to single us out?"

Aria shrugged "We're the new guys maybe? Or maybe because we were the only ones who were able to take him on by ourselves? You never know with these guys…"

"And that power I felt when we were fighting Morticon, I know you felt it too"

"I don't know man, maybe we'll find out sooner or later. Come on, the others want to apologize."

With that Nick went to go retrieve his bike while Aria decided to take the long way and walk through the woods, at least for a little while. That vision of the glowing red eye kinda freaked her out and she had yet to tell Udonna about it. Honestly she was a bit scared of what she'll find out if she did talk to her. With her mind wandering she didn't even realize that she was out of the woods. Deciding to just skip the walking and get there as soon as possible Aria melted into a shadow and came up in an alley beside the Rock Porium

 **-Rock Porium-**

Stepping from the alley she managed to catch Nick and the others already talking.

"I just wanted to say that I'm sorry" Xander began "I really am"

"Aria was right," Maddie continued, nodding to the black ranger "Your our friend Nick and you deserved better"

"No more jumping to conclusions, promise" Vida vowed

"It was Xander's fault" Chip said causing them all to laugh "It was"

"Thanks guys" Nick sighed "And I owe you an apology too"

"Actually we both do" Aria spoke up "We should have come to guys when we started to hear Koragg's voice"

"Guess we all learned a lesson about trust and friendship"

"No more secrets between us" Xander said

Nick and Xander shook hands "No more secrets man"

Soon they all needed to go to work. Aria's phone started ringing and with a final goodbye to her friends she answered

"Hello?"

 _"_ _Ri?"_

"Oh hey Dustin. What's up?"

 _"_ _Are you okay?"_ he sounded really worried

"I'm fine why is something wrong?"

 _"_ _Yeah, your necklace was glowing like non-stop yesterday dude"_

"What?"

 _"_ _Cam wants to know if it's happened before"_

"I mean like once or twice that's it"

 _"_ _You wanna come and get it?"_

After a few moments of silence I said "No, but I'm gonna come visit and check it out. Might head to the Thunder Academy and pick something else up."

 _"_ _I'll, uh, I'll see you soon then"_

She smiled "See you, love you"

 _"_ _Love you"_

After they hung up Aria looked back at the Rock Porium, "No more secrets…"

 _(A/N: I know it's been awhile since I've updated this story but I've had some major writers block. on the other hand I do have another story out now called_ Lady Red _it's a Now You See Me story so if you love that movie as mush as I do, check it out! :D)_


	9. Chapter 8

A/N: Hey guys! Im so sorry I didn't update for awhile, but Im here now and I'll try to post more often. ENJOY!

 **Chapter 8: Legendary Catastros**

 **-Rootcore-**

Aria had just finished their physical training when Udonna called them inside. Standing around the table the Five waited for the sorceress to begin

"Gather round rangers," she called from the Xenotome "and hear the story of the beast stallion whose strength was known across the land-the legendary Catastros"

Opening her hands a glowing black stallion erupted from the pages and galloped around the Five and into the crystal ball. Aria watched from the side having heard this story before.

"Many have tried in vain to break the mightiest creature of them all. But Catastros was stronger than a hundred men, and no one was able to harness his fearsome power. Catastros fled into the forest during the Great Battle of Good and Evil. But before the seal was closed Evil reached up and dragged Catastros down to the lowest depths of the pit."

The crystal ball showed Catastros's story like a movie, replaying bits of the Great Battle when the glowing red eye made another appearance. Aria saw a flash of a blurry vision before returning to normal. Unbeknownst to her, Udonna saw her out of the corner of her eye and looked back down to the Xenotome.

"That was the scariest story I have ever heard" Chip announced "Tell it again!"

"Even I'm a little freaked out" Vida admitted causing everyone to stare a her "Just a little" she defended

"Well I'm not scared" Xander laughed nervously as thunder struck and the lights went out. When they came back on Xander was being carried in Vida's arms

"Not scared huh?" Aria commented

"Just making sure you're safe V" he tried

"I'm fine, thanks" she replied before dropping him

"You guys can't be possibly afraid of a silly horse" Nick said, sitting on the wooden table

"Make no mistake; Catastros is a force to be reckoned with Nick" Udonna warned

"But didn't Koragg tame him? He does have control over him" Aria asked

"Yes, for Catastros remains loyal to Koragg to this day"

Claire then came in with a smile on her face "Don't you just love a good rainstorm? Washes away the stress of the day"

Everyone took a double take when they saw her. The blond apprentice had a huge pile of whipped cream on her head and…steaming?

"Claire" Maddie began "You're steaming…"

"Oh yeah, I crossed a hot-cocoa spell with a spell of protection. Keeps me warm on these cold stormy nights"

The Five erupted into laughter while Aria snuck to the back of the group

"Your hair!" Vida laughed

Claire reached up on her head and yelped when she noticed the whipped cream "I forgot to omit the part about the toppings!" she realized "I'm allergic to whipped cream!"

Clare sneezed just as she turned to Udonna, flipping whipped cream on the older witch. She stormed away to clean up while Aria stepped forward.

"Ok, ok hold on Claire" she laughed " _Finishio_ "

Claire breathed a sigh of relief "Thanks Aria"

The latter playfully rolled her eyes as the other rangers tried to hide their laughter.

"So I'm guessing we're done for the day?" Xander asked

"Yeah I guess; I'll see you guys later" Aria said as she turned on her heel

"You kicking us out?" Nick asked jokingly

She let out a laugh "No, I'm heading to Blue Bay for the night. I promised Dustin I'd visit soon"

Vida started making cooing noises and kissy faces prompting the others to laugh

"Haha very funny V" she rolled her eyes again "I'll see you guys later"

Again turning on her heel Aria headed for her room to grab a few things and walked out of Rootcore. She picked a tree nearby and visualized the Wind Academy. Within seconds she was home

 **-Wind Academy-**

Stepping out of the tree she headed for the waterfall, her Mystic uniform was long gone and replaced with shorts, fishnets, converse, and a baggy black t-shirt. She walked straight through the waterfall and was greeted by the familiar view of the Wind Ninja Academy.

At the front she saw Cam overseeing the whole school. She snuck behind him and said in a fake voice "So is this were I can become a ninja?"

She was pretty sure Cam would have whiplash with how fast his neck turned but the look on his face was priceless. When he saw who it was his face broke in a grin and greeted her "Aria! What are you doing here?"

Cam and Aria hugged it out she answered his question. "Well I was going to grab something from the Thunder Academy but I think there's something else I need"

"Your necklace?" Cam asked

"Dustin tell you?"

"Yeah, I ran some tests on it but the computer didn't find anything."

Her face scrunched up, but she shook her head "I'm here on my day off I don't wanna think about it. Now lead me to our friends!"

Cam rolled his eyes and led me to Ninja Ops "Y'all still use this place?"

"I've tried kicking them out…they didn't listen"

Inside the three of them were gathered at the low table talking amongst themselves. I walked in as if nothing was different and sat down beside Dustin

After their initial shock and the long-time no sees we spent the day chilling together. When they had to go back to teaching I made my way over to the Thunder Academy.

 **-Thunder Academy-**

Making my way into the academy I easily made my way to Hunter's office.

"Guess you?!" I called as I walked inside

"No way" Hunter smiled, standing from his desk and giving me a hug "What are you doing here Ri?"

"I just need to pick something up"

"What is it?"

"Remember that blanket mom and dad found me in?"

"Yeah…"

"It's really weird but last week I was seeing some visions or some shit and I saw a baby, wrapped in _my_ blanket, with just a mass of black magic in front of it."

"Ok…"

"And I just want it ok"

After Hunter tried to stop his sniggering and a more detailed description of the whole 'voices in her head' scenario Hunter kinda understood her reason for wanting her blanket.

Walking into her old room she took a quick glance around, everything was exactly the same, walking to her closet she pulled the old purple blanket from the top shelf and rolled it into the small backpack she brought.

 **-Wind Academy-**

After her visit to her brother she headed back to the Wind Academy. Her friends were now off work so Dustin and Aria decided to race for a little. They picked up their bikes from Storm Chargers and raced in the woods.

When they were done they went down to cliff Aria used to occupy. They sat on a boulder and talked about their lives nowadays. Dustin's life as a teacher and Aria's latest battles; this ultimately turned to the topic of Aria's necklace.

"So it was glowing like non-stop last week?" she asked

"Basically, it would stop for like an hour before lighting up again"

Aria's face scrunched up as she thought back to last week's vision

"Maybe you should take it with you. It could be magic" he shrugged

"You may have a point…"

Reaching into his pocket Dustin pulled the long silver chain out and handed it to her. The familiar weight in her hand was comforting "I just don't want Udonna to worry or whatever"

"I'm sure it'll be fine…"

Dustin and Aria looked at each other before bursting into a fit of laughter. Nothing in a ranger's life is 'just fine'.

Aria slept over that night, sleeping beside Dustin in his room at the academy. That night however she had a strange dream; it began with her walking on the shores of Blue Bay harbor before the usual white sand turned black and the clear blue sky became an eerie shade of purple. Looking around she saw nothing, however she heard the pounding hooves of a stallion. Slowly turning over her shoulder she came face to face with Catastros. He reared on his hind legs, knocking her down, she blocked her face in fear that he'd trample her but it never came. Instead she sat up from the bed, her forehead damp with sweat

"Shit…" she breathed

Looking around she realized that she was still with Dustin. The said ninja was knocked out cold, laying on his side and turned away from her. She ran a hand through her wild hair and rubbed her grey-green eyes. A couple deep breaths later she laid back down again, not noticing the eerie glow of the ring on her necklace.

 **-Next Day-**

After a restless sleep Aria said goodbye to her friends and made her way back to Rootcore, blanket and necklace in her possession.

 **-Rootcore-**

When she reached the tree she quietly made her way to her room, quickly muttering her greetings to the two women. Once inside her room she took her rolled up blanket and tucked it behind her pillow. With her necklace she placed it in the small drawer of her bedside table. She collapsed on her bed in hopes of catching up on some sleep but as soon as her head hit her pillow her morpher signaled an attack.

Udonna burst into her room "You must help the rangers, without their megazord powers they are vulnerable"

Aria gave a curt nod and raced out the door, leaping through trees and melting into shadows to help her friends.

When she arrived she and the others were greeted by a giant Koragg

"Let's ranger up" Nick commanded

"MAGICAL SOURCE, MYSTIC FORCE!"

"Galwit Mysto Ranger!"

As soon as they morphed Koragg and Catastros combined to become their own megazord.

"Get Back!" Aria said

"How are we gonna fight him without our megazord power?" Vida asked

"We don't have a choice" Aria said rather bluntly

"Come on guys we can do it!" Nick added

"Let's Titan up!"

"Galwit Mysto Prifior!"

Using their dragon formation Nick rode on the backs of the others while Aria spread her wings and flew alongside them.

The Five fired at Koragg with Aria providing extra power above them. Koragg's megazord started sparking allowing the rangers to land.

"Come on!" Koragg challenged

"You don't have all our powers Koragg!" Nick reminded

"That was nothing!" Koragg created a spell seal that caused the dragon formation to break apart and have the six rangers fall to the ground.

"Get up and fight!" he demanded

Aria looked up at Koragg just as his megazord tensed up as if something struck him.

The familiar voice of Necrolai was heard "That's what you get for lying to Morticon"

Koragg turned to face her "What? I will crush you hag"

"You'll have to catch me first" she mocked before flying off. Meanwhile Aria was slowly regaining her strength to stand back up

"My own allies are turning against me" Koragg said aloud to himself "I must deal with this" he created another spell seal " _Basalichi Infrado_!"

Apparently Nick was too, as he shot up in the air to try and grab Koragg "NOOOO!" he cried

"NICK!" Aria called as she reached for her friend below her she could see the spell seal wavering before it sucked the three of them into a portal of sorts.

 **-Unknown-**

Aria and Nick screamed as they fell through the air before landing on a familiar black beach. As soon as they hit the sand their ranger suits disappeared from their bodies.

"What happened? Where are we?" Nick asked

"Talk about lost…" Aria grumbled

The two looked around at their surroundings before Nick tried to use his morpher to call the others "Guys? Can you hear me?" he started to look around him

Aria grabbed him by his shoulders "Nick calm down, we'll get through this okay?"

"How are we gonna get the other?" he asked

Aria looked to the sky "First thing about alternate dimensions and realms, morphers and communicators don't really work?"

"You've been here before?" he asked with wide eyes

"Only in a dream, but I've had my fair share of alternate dimensions"

"This is crazy" Nick breathed

The two continued circling themselves when they heard a horse's neighs.

"I hope that's just an over-sized pelican"

Any other time Aria would've started laughing, but she would be lying if she said she wasn't getting freaked out. They both turned around to see the legendary Catastros standing before them. Nick and Aria both took several steps back to try and get away from it. Soon they broke out into a run, Catastros chasing after them. The chase left the beach and continued into a forest of grey and purple trees. Nick tripped and ended up face-down on the ground. Aria paused to help him up as Catastros leapt over them and faced the two. Turning on their heels they ran down another path, this one much darker than the woods. Aria tripped over a branch and Nick bent down to help her up. But when the pounding hooves sounded again Nick fell down beside her and stared into the trees to try and find the stallion.

When they finally got up Catastros was right behind them charging after the two. The stallion bumped into Nick causing him to knock not just himself but Aria as well down a hill. When they finally stopped the two helped each other up and scanned the area "The fuck is going on?" Aria asked

"I don't know, let's just get outta here" Nick replied in a panic filled voice. With that the two stumbled off into the woods to try and figure out how to get outta here. The two collapsed on the roots of a tree, both exhausted from their battle and freakin marathon that they just ran. "Where are we?" Nick asked again

"I saw this in a dream last night…it was on the beach…" Aria remembered

Nick shakily stood up and shook his head a few times. Aria pinched the bridge of her nose and squeezed her eyes shut when they suddenly heard Catastros's heavy breathing. Slowly looking up at the horse Catastros reared up on his hind legs, causing Nick to fall back down again. Aria dragged him closer to the tree to try and get him away from the stallion's mighty hooves. But the wild beast slowly lowered his hooves, shook his giant head a couple times before collapsing to the ground. On his back leg was a giant gash, glowing a mix of white and purple. Catastros whimpered in pain

Aria and Nick both stood

"Whoa, easy boy" Aria said when Catastros neighed "Are you hurt?"

It looked as though he nodded yes, Nick started to take off running but Aria stayed and slowly approached it. Nick turned to see his friend try and reach for the killer horse

"Aria what are you doing?" he demanded

"He needs help, he's hurt come on!" she fired back

Nick sighed, thought about it for a little and reluctantly joined Aria in helping Catastros. Nick took multiple deep breaths "Ok…we can do this…okay"

As Nick came closer Catastros lowered his head so that he was lying on his side. Aria sat down beside his head while Nick circled around to his injury and saw the gash. Beside the horse was the arrow Necrolai fired, its arrowhead also glowing that white and purple combination. "Maybe we can't do this…"

Aria looked over her shoulder and up at the red ranger, we have to try. You have a magic wand…use it"

Aria turned her attention to the horse; hesitantly she reached her hand out for the horse's muzzle. At first it jerked its head away and Aria drew her hand back. She tried one more time and Catastros didn't move, so Aria comfortingly rubbed the stallion's muzzle while Nick tried to think of a spell

"Try _Finishio_ " Aria suggested, not taking her eyes off the horse

" _Finishio_! Catastros, _Finishio_!" Nick tried, but nothing happened "What's wrong?" he demanded, clearly getting frustrated " _Finishio_ , Catastros, _Finishio_! Why isn't this thing working?!"

The horse's breathing became heavier and Aria bent down lower, "We're gonna help you…" she whispered and she continued to stroke his muzzle.

Nick tried again and again and again but nothing was working. Catastros's breathing became more and more shallow and his big eyes were starting the droop. " _Finishio_!" Nick tried again but nothing happened. He kneeled down beside Aria "I'm sorry…"

Aria sat flat on her butt and placed Catastros's heavy head on her lap, stroking neck to try and comfort him. "I can't help you" Nick continued "But I'm not afraid of you anymore"

Nick reached over and helped Aria in comforting the injure stallion, petting Catastros's masked face. At that moment both morphers rung and glowed in their respective colours; with a bit of finessing on Aria's part the two were able to pull their wands out and after sharing a knowing look Nick pointed his wand at his wound and said " _Finishio_ " the gash disappeared and Catastros shot up to its legs, knocking Aria down into the dirt. She hastily stood up and joined Nick, backing away from the horse. But to their surprise the horse didn't try to attack but instead pushed its head into their hands. The two smiled and petted the wild stallion

"You did it" Aria smiled "You healed him"

Catastros pushed its head towards them "What?" Nick asked "You want us to get on?"

Grabbing his black mane Nick hauled himself up onto Catastros's back then helped Aria get on. Latching onto Nick's jacket Catastros took off like a bullet, leaving the woods and riding on the beach. O the beach in front of them appeared a spell seal, similar to the one that swallowed them into this dimension

"THERE!" Aria called as Nick urged Catastros to run faster

 **-Briarwood-**

After leaping through the seal Catastros, Nick, and Aria all returned to Briarwood in their Titan forms, still on the back of the stallion.

"Go Catastros!" Nick called

"Look its Nick and Aria!" Vida cheered

"I can't believe it worked!" Chip awed

"Hey guys! Need a little help?" Aria asked "Do it Nick!"

"Centaurus Phoenix Megazord!" Aria leapt off the back as Nick and Catastros went through with their formation.

"Whoa! He combined with Catastros!" Xander gasped

"This is how it's done! Re Ranger style!" the staff he used glowed a fiery red on the ends as he spun it around

"I'm not afraid of you!" the boulder monster yelled as he charged for him Nick used his fire power to create a tail of sorts and whip it around, hitting the giant rock dead on. He was still standing however

"Aria! Finish it!" Nick said as he and Catastros broke apart.

"All right!" she cheered as she engaged in the megazord formation "Centaurus Reaper Megazord!"

More cheers came from the others "Aria too?!" she heard Maddie comment

She could hear Koragg's voice as well "That's not possible"

Using the staff that came with the megazord Aria powered it with her dark magic. She blocked his boulder blasts and used the staff to channel her powers at the boulder monster, effectively destroying him once and for all.

The Centaurus megazord deactivated and Aria stood next to Catastros, stroking his neck as the Five regained their megazord powers

The Five cheered as Aria said "Thank you Catastros" however, Catastros reared up on his hind legs, pushing Aria's hand off of him and took off for Koragg who leapt through a spell seal and grew in size.

" _Samba Gunitos Equestras!_ " Aria and Nick watched in horror as who they thought was a new friend join Koragg once again. "Catastros rides with me" Koragg announced

"No!" Aria cried, reaching out for the stallion

"But I thought he changed!" Nick added

"I don't know how you were able to combine with my mighty Catastros" Koragg sneered "but I promise you I will find out. something about you two is troubling"

"I don't understand" Nick said

"What are you going on about?" Aria demanded

"We will meet again, red and black rangers…"

"I don't understand…" the two whispered at the same time

 **-Later-**

After the battle Udonna asked to speak with Aria and Nick "Not many can say they have ridden the mighty Catastros, that's quite impressive" Udonna praised as the three walked into Rootcore

"It was pretty amazing" Nick said

"Even though he probably only let us ride him because we helped him" Aria added

"Yes" Udonna answered "Unfortunately, the next time you meet Catastros, you will be enemies again. But you conquered your fear and you were rewarded. I'm proud of you both"

"Thanks" the two smiled

"Hey don't forget about the others" Nick reminded "They really came through for us when it counted"

"Apparently they had a little help from a Troblin friend of yours" Udonna laughed

"Phineas?" Aria giggled

Nick laughed himself "Man, if you had told me I'd be hanging out with magical sorceress and a half-troll half-goblin, I'd have never believed it."

"Amen to that dude. Even though I was a ranger before…I probably still wouldn't believe any of that"

"Your journeys have just begun. There are many adventures ahead-for all of us." Udonna replied

"That I can believe" Aria smiled. Nick walked into Rootcore but Aria held Udonna back

"Is something troubling you?" Udonna asked

Aria looked to the ground "I've been wanting to do some personal research about enchanted objects."

"Any reason why?" Udonna questioned

"I was reading something the other day and I found a bit of info about enchanted objects. It caught my interest" she shrugged

"Of course Aria, you're welcome to any of the books we have."

Aria smiled and began to make her way to the entrance "Aria," Udonna called. The young Mystic turned "Have you considered telling your friends?"

Aria knew exactly what she was talking about "I don't know Udonna; I don't want them to think I'm some monster or something…"

Udonna gave a small smile "I understand, however I do believe that they should know"

"Maybe one day…" Aria sighed as she walked inside

"Not yet…" Udonna said to herself as she watched the young girl walk inside "Not yet"

A/N: So that's it! I hope you guys enjoyed it! Please REVIEW/FOLLOW! XOXO. Please check out my other story 'Lady Red' on my profile


	10. Chapter 9

A/N: FINALLY an update! I know I've been MIA for a while but i haven't had much inspiration lately and I am SO sorry about that! Hopefully i can update soon. Sorry again guys

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 **Chapter 9: Fire Heart**

 **-Rootcore-**

Aria was doing some of her research at the round table in the middle of the room, her nose buried deep into the old book when the crystal ball alerted trouble.

She quickly rung up her friends

"Guys," she began "there's dark magic in your area, go check it out"

"We can't all split on Toby" she heard Nick say "V and I will go check it out"

"You better hurry" Aria warned and disconnected from the rangers. Peering into the ball she watched as the rangers arrived to the scene, only to see a taxi sitting there.

Nick and Vida had puzzled looks on their faces but Aria knew, from experience, that not everything is at it seems. Suddenly the taxi transformed into a hideous creature and the Red and Pink Mystics did not hesitate to leap into action. Aria watched with pride, their fighting skills have improved a lot since visiting the Academy. Eventually, the two rangers morphed to battle the monster. They were doing pretty well too, until Necrolai appeared.

Aria immediately sent an alert to the remaining three rangers who showed up right away. As the three came onto the scene Necrolai sent the taxi off. The Five tried to follow but were stopped by Necrolai; she blasted them to the ground before taking off herself.

Aria groaned in frustration until something caught her eye. Up on the wall of the lot the rangers were on was a camera. Aria cursed out loud, causing Udonna to come into the room

"What is it Aria?" she asked with worry

"The camera" she ground out. In her Ninja Storm days they were always careful about their identities and morphing in public. Maybe it was because of their ninja training or something but they were never caught. She made a reminder in her head to give the rangers a crash course on stealth.

 **-Later-**

When the rangers came back into Rootcore Aria called up Cam to help guide her into hacking into the security feed that caught the rangers. Yeah she was good with computers but Cam had eyes literally everywhere.

"You guys need to be careful about morphing in public you guys" Aria chided

"She's right," Udonna agreed "This tape could put us all in danger"

Aria was about to erase the tape when Maddie stopped her, "Wait what is that?"

Aria zoomed into he shot to show Necrolai holding up an old looking map, "It's a map" she informed

Udonna stepped forward, her face etched with worry "Yes, but there's more to it than that" her eyes squinted as she tried to read it "It's a map written by the Ancients"

"Let's take a closer look" she said as she pointed her wand to the screen, the screen shimmered in black before a copy of the map appeared on the desk before her. Udonna picked it up and studied it

"Oh my, I thought this was lost" Udonna breathed "It's a map to the Fire Heart"

"The Fire Heart?" Aria repeated, she had only heard stories from Udonna

"No way!" Chip exclaimed excitedly before his face frowned in confusion "What's the Fire Heart?"

"The Ancients believed it to be the source of tremendous power" Udonna said, still staring down at the map

"Which means we need to find it," Vida concluded "before Necrolai gets her scaly little hands on it"

"That won't be easy V" Aria said as got up to stand by Udonna to look at the map "It says that you have to go through the Cimmerian Forest"

"That's all right," Xander smirked "We like forests, don't we guys"

Aria looked at the green ranger "Imagine your worst nightmare then multiply that by like…200"

"That's easy," Chip grinned "My mom puts my cellphone in the dryer, and the next time we morph, my uniform really tiny" The Five burst out laughing but Udonna and Aria's faces were serious and kinda frustrated at the rangers

"Guys, I've read about the forest numerous times. It's not something to joke about"

"You are about to begin your most dangerous journey you have ever undertaken. Your path will be filled with unimaginable danger, evil creatures, and ravenous demons."

"I'll go with them Udonna" Aria said as she stepped away from her teacher and towards the Five

She nodded in understanding; they were still new to all this and they'd need as much help as they could get. "Remember, returning with the Fire Heart will not be your success. Your success will be to return at all."

After handing the map to Aria the six rangers walked out of Rootcore and towards the Cimmerian Forest.

 **-Cimmerian Forest-**

"This isn't so bad" Chip tried as they neared the Forest

"I'm not looking forward to this" Maddie admitted

"Me neither" Nick agreed

Aria was nervous as hell but she tried to keep it together for her team "We have a map, we should be fine if we follow what it says." She turned to look back at them "And we have each other's backs, we stick together and we'll be good"

"I'll take the lead on this one" Xander said cockily "I know how to read maps pretty well."

Aria frowned "And I was trained how to read maps and ancient scrolls since I was eleven. There's a difference between _thinking_ you know how read to read maps and being _taught_ how to read a map"

"Well, my magic is trees and we _are_ going into a forest." Xander argued "Also like Toby said, I'm a born leader"

Aria quirked an eyebrow before surrendering the map to him "Alright 'Born Leader' lead the way"

Xander grabbed the map and began walking ahead. Aria leaned over to Nick "I'm so gonna regret that…"

They continued through the forest when they found the skeleton of some creature rotting away on the ground. "This is my kinda place" Chip announce

"It sure isn't mine" Maddie countered

Somewhere above them a branch snapped "What was that?" Maddie asked

"Just keep moving" Nick said

"I knew I should've called Dustin and my brothers before coming here" Aria said to herself, following behind Xander

Suddenly Xander just stopped out of nowhere "Whoa" he said as we all crashed into him

Vida was telling him off when suddenly they heard a sound in the wind.

"Did you hear that?" Aria asked, already falling into her fighting stance

"I've had a feeling something's been following us since we started. But I didn't want to say anything, cause I always think something's following us."

All of a sudden Phineas appeared in front of them, hanging upside down from a low hanging branch

"Sorry Phineas," Xander began "we're on a mission, don't have time for a visit."

Phineas flipped off the branch, over the rangers, and landed behind them.

"Tell you what," he began "seeing you asked so nicely, I'll take you through the forest"

"Maybe we should let Phineas lead" Nick tried

Aria added on "He does sound like he knows the place"

"I like them," Phineas announced "They know what they're talking about. I know this place like the back of my—oh, new wart"

Xander shook his head "Look, don't need any help. I know exactly where I'm going."

He started forward before Aria stopped him and said "As my Sensei once said, 'the best quality of a leader is to understand when to be a follower'. I'm going with Phineas" she announced as she stood by the Troblin.

She looked at the rangers expectedly and waited for them to join her. However she could see the hesitation in their eyes. On one hand they wanted to go with Phineas while on the other, they wanted to go with their friend. Eventually the Five decided to stick together and headed off deep into the woods leaving Aria with Phineas.

She watched her friends walk away before glancing back at the Troblin. He gave a grin and a little wave. She gave her own little wave in return, still staring back at her friends. "I feel bad for leaving them" she admitted

"Well technically they left you" Phineas pointed out

She gave him a look that clearly stated 'Are you kidding me?' "Can we please follow them?"

"Okay, this way!" he said cheerfully.

Aria took a deep breath and followed the Troblin. They trekked through the forest a little before they heard the voices of the Five. Phineas had his goofy grin on his face before climbing up on a branch. Aria stood back, arms crossed over her chest and waited for her friends; when they were in sight Phineas revealed himself, hanging upside down from the branch. "I wouldn't go that way" he warned before flipping off. "Only took me a couple of years to realize that landing on my feet was easier than landing on my face"

Aria chuckled at him before taking a good look at her friends. They were caked in mud from head to toe, "What happened to you guys?"

They all sent a little glare to Xander, who was still looking at the fork in the road with a look of frustration.

"Maybe now is a good time to ask Phineas for help" Maddie suggested

"We don't need anything" Xander insisted "We are fine"

"Yeah, clearly by the looks of things you don't need any help" Aria pushed, stepping closer to the other Mystics

"You're right. You don't need anything" Phineas added "Because very soon you're about to be eaten by a boar beast. But hey, once again, have a nice day"

Phineas took a step back while Aria waited for someone to follow them

"They're just tryna scare us. Come on guys" Xander tried

"He's tryna help Xander!" a frustrated Aria said "God you worse than Shane and Hunter! Just let Phineas take the lead; we'll get through it faster"

"I'm going with them" Nick said shaking his head at the green ranger

"Me too" Vida added "Guys?"

Chip and Maddie looked at Xander then at Phineas and with a shrug followed Nick and Vida's lead

"Guys?" Xander whined "I know where I'm going" Maddie and Chip gave him a look and continued to walk over to the others when Xander decided to make a deal "Okay, then okay. I'll cover your shifts for two weekends at the Rock Porium if you stick with me"

Maddie looked to her twin for help; in response Vida quickly shook her head no. Maddie however didn't listen "Make it three" she sighed

"Deal, Chip?"

"Deal" the yellow ranger smiled "I always wanted to see a boar beast anyway"

And with that they were gone. Nick and Vida rolled their eyes while Aria's widened with worry. She's read about this forest and the creatures that lurked around here; one of them being a giant spider. She shuddered at the thought and followed Phineas.

Not 10 minutes later they were out of the dreaded Cimmerian Forest.

"There you go. Congratulations!" Phineas cheered "You've officially made it out of the Cimmerian Forest. Now if you excuse me, I've got things to do" he gave a little laugh and ran back into the forest

"Let's hope one of those things is a bath" Vida quipped when he left

A couple steps forward and they saw they were actually on a cliff looking over a quarry

"It's always a quarry" Aria muttered "Why is it always a fuckin quarry"

"It's a long way down" Vida commented

"Come on, let's find the Fire Heart and get outta here"

"Grab on" Aria said. Nick and Vida gave her a strange look "Grab on tight and don't let go" she repeated, holding her arms out.

The two shrugged and did as they were told. As soon as they gripped onto her tight Aria streak down in a flash of black. "Ninja streak?" Nick questioned. Aria nodded with a grin before a green-faced Vida said "Never again"

"It's not for everyone" Aria shrugged

The three of them looked around at the quarry, trying to find _something_. Walking around a little bit Nick spotted a pile of glowing rocks. "Over there!"

They quickly rushed over to inspect it "You think that's it?"

"Probably, I don't see any other pile of glowing rocks. Do you?" Aria said sarcastically

"Let's see if we got our powers back" Vida offered. Aria was about to summon her magic but Vida beat her to it, grabbing her morpher and using her Tornado Power. The rocks blew apart revealing a scroll embedded into the rock.

"That works" Aria muttered, impressed by Vida's magic

Vida tried to pry it out but couldn't pull it out, "I'll take it from here" Nick said, pulling his own morpher out. His magic easily melted the rock away, allowing Vida the snatch it up. She popped the lid of the scroll and grinned like the Cheshire Cat

"The secret of the Fire Heart" she said. The three started laughing in relief that they finally found it when all of a sudden they were blasted to the ground. Now, when you spent most of your day hiking through a dangerous forest, with a rambling Troblin, under the hot sun you are bound to get a little cranky. Add the fact that when you finally find what you were looking for you end up getting shot at; you'll probably get super pissed. Well that's exactly where Aria was now. Her hands balled into fists and her eyes turned black again. The scroll flew up into the air and landed in Necrolai's open hand.

"Fire Heart is mine!" she announced "Hidiacs!"

"I'm sick of this bitch" Aria spat in her distorted voice and shakily stood up as the henchmen appeared. She gave a battle cry before taking off, her feet barely skimming the ground as she fired balls of her magic at the Hidiacs. She was soon joined by Nick and Vida, the three of them easily taking them down.

"They don't stand a chance" they heard Necrolai laugh. Their heads snapped to the bat looking she-devil only to be blasted again. Aria stood up immediately and fired her own blast, a mix of electricity and magic, at her. It hits its target but didn't do as much damage as she had hoped. Necrolai straightened up, clutching her stomach in pain and summoned the taxi-monster "Home, James" she sneered, when he appeared she grinned "Right on time"

'James? Really? That's what this guy's name is?' Aria couldn't help but think, allowing her to distract herself and calm down a little

"You think we would've learned this by now" Vida said in between pants

"Let's ranger up"

The three of them quickly morphed, not bothering with using their morphing call and leapt back into battle. Vida and Aria busied themselves with double-teaming Necrolai while Nick followed the demonic taxi, James on his bike. Using his MagiStaff Nick was able to force James out of his taxi disguise. The battle with Necrolai was a lot harder, even with the two of them. Their attacks were sloppy as they were exhausted from their venture through the forest, allowing Necrolai to toss them aside.

"V! Aria!" Nick called, helping the two girls up from the ground

They were soon joined by Maddie, Chip, and Xander; already morphed and ready to go.

"Let's show this overgrown bat what we're made of!" Vida said

Aria went first, drawing her Mystic Daggers as she did. She slashed at the monster, ducking from his attacks before lodging her daggers into him. A snap of her fingers and he crumbled to his knees from the electricity from the daggers, she withdrew them from his armor and stepped aside. Nick was next; he came running in with his Mystic Striker and attacked with no hesitation.

Meanwhile, Maddie, Vida, Chip, and Xander had their hands full with Necrolai. Each taking turns to strike at her.

James managed to kick Nick off of him but Aria quickly followed and struck him from behind. She then leaped over James to stand in front of Nick and used her black magic to send a ball of energy his way, causing him to spark and smoke from her attack. Nick was able to get up during this and leapt high into the air "FIRE POWER!" he called before landing the final strike on James.

But of course, seconds later James emerged 30 stories tall and ready for more.

"This is seriously getting old" Aria complained

"Time to go Titan" Xander announced

"You got this guys!" Aria cheered as her friends transformed into their giant titan forms.

Aria watched with pride as her friends took on their opponent. However her eyes were torn from the battle when Necrolai blasted her again. She wasn't thrown to the ground again but she did stumble a bit

"Hope you didn't forget about me Black Ranger" she mocked

"I wish I could" Aria sneered

With her daggers drawn she and Necrolai battled it out; neither one willing to back down. Aria noticed the scroll still in her hand and reached for it but Necrolai kicked her back. Aria shot a blast at her and flew backwards, the scroll was thrown up in the air and Aria leapt forward to catch it. When her hand closed around to old scroll she quickly scrambled to her feet and stared at it, as if to make sure it was fine. But of course Necrolai had to come flying after her, clawing for the scroll in Aria's possession. It became a game of tug-o-war between the two. By this time the other rangers had defeated James and were back to their normal selves.

"Let go!" Necrolai snapped and yanked up, tearing the scroll in half. Aria looked down at her hands to see the scroll torn in half "FUCK!" she cursed out loud as the others surrounded her.

"Look what you've done!" Necrolai growled and took off

"At least we have half of it" Maddie tried but they could all feel the anger coming off of Aria. She shoved the scroll in Vida's hands and stomped away from them.

"All of that, only to get it ripped in half" Aria ranted "Fuck! It's all my fault! I should've run with it while I had the chance" she blasted a rock nearby, causing it to explode

Nick approached to fuming ranger, grabbed her by the shoulders and said "Aria, calm down. It wasn't your fault. It was the bat-bitch" he tried

But Aria just shrugged his hands off of her and streaked off.

 **-Later-**

Aria spent the next few hours walking around the woods, meditating, target practice, ninja training, anything to get her mind off losing _half_ of the Secret to the Fire Heart. She had never lost something so precious before and it was taking a toll on her. she also felt bad for walking away from her team so she decided to head to Rock Porium to apologize.

 **-Rock Porium-**

she walked into the store to see her friends all grouped together. She walked up to them and greeted them. "Hey guys," she began "Look I'm really sorry for snapping earlier. I guess I was just frustrated from losing half of the scroll after all the shit we had to go through in the forest" she said in hushed tones to prevent anyone else from hearing her

"Hey no worries Ari" Maddie reassured

"Yeah, it wasn't your fault" Vida added

"Yeah, well, it's gonna be a pain to try and figure out the _Secret of the Fire Heart_ without half of the scroll."

"We'll manage" Nick smiled

Aria smiled at her friends in thanks

Suddenly a new voice was heard "Sorry mates, my tour bus broke down, so I thought I'd kill some time in here while it's getting fixed"

The Five looked at each other in awe while Aria was confused as to who this guy was. Or at least until her eyes landed on the cardboard cutout next to Xander. That was when she realized that this guy was probably some British rocker

"Hey, handsome lad ain't he?" he laughed, copying the pose of the cutout

"Jake" Vida laughed "You have got to meet our boss. He is your biggest fan!"

"Toby!" Nick called "Guess who's here!" Toby stumbled out of his office "Jake Bonebreaker"

"I'm not falling for that again" Toby shook his head "I've got work to do" he said before walking back into his office.

"Can anyone explain what just happened?" Aria asked prompting the other to giggle amongst themselves

* * *

A/N: So that's that. I hope you enjoyed, I'll try to update soon. Please chek out my other story **Lady Red** and check my profile for a poll. I really need your help so go vote! **R &R**! XOXOX


	11. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10: Petrified Xander**

 **-Rock Porium-**

Apparently Necrolai wasn't through with them, a few weeks ago the bat-bitch turned Vida into a vampire. If it wasn't for Chip, who knows what could've happened to their pink ranger. Aria hates having to fight her friends, especially after everything with Lothor brainwashing her and her brothers. She knew exactly what Vida was feeling. But being the girl she is, Vida got through it and now was back to normal.

Right now Aria was back outside of Rock Porium with her guitar playing some of her old songs as well as some covers of songs she learned in her almost non-existent free time.

She drew in more customers, one of whom; unfortunately was Leelee. She shot her a fake smile as the blonde walked by, only to make a face behind her back.

The black-ranger continued playing until Vida came running out, saying they needed to head back to Rootcore ASAP

 **-Rootcore-**

All the rangers, minus Xander who was using a mirror to check out Mt. Everest growing on his face, huddled around Chip who apparently figured out the map to the Fire Heart.

"So while Xander was staring at himself and I was staring at Xander, the answer was staring at me" Chip told as he plucked a mirror from Xander's hand and held it to the torn map

"What mountain does that look like?" he asked

Realization hit all of them "Mount Fuego!" they all said at the same time. They congratulated Chip. Suddenly they heard Claire scream in excitement.

Aria turned, her hand already on her wand in case she needed to reverse a spell or something but Claire put her worries to rest when she said "It worked! I finally did something right!"

"What is it?" Xander asked

"It's a potion I concocted to make sad, dull-looking flowers become perfectly gorgeous"

"It's a perfection potion" he said, staring at the red roses before him

"Nice job Claire" Aria praised as she checked out the flowers herself.

Nick, however, brought their attention to the task at hand "All right let's go, Fire Heart is waiting, we'll have to split up to cover that much territory."

"Need my help?" Aria asked

"Please"

With a nod, Aria followed, nudging Xander to come along. Little did they know, Xander took Claire's 'perfection potion' and sprayed his nose before joining his team.

 **-Mt. Fuego-**

The six of them split up; Chip and Aria, Maddie and nick, and Vida and Xander. While they were hiking up the mountain Chip kept asking a bunch of questions about Ninjas

"So how long did you guys train for?" he asked "You know before you came rangers?"

"My brothers and I trained for six years, Cam trained for his entire life, but the others didn't even have a year's worth of training" she explained, looking around to try and find the Fire Heart symbol

"So how did you learn how to control lightning?"

"A whole lotta meditation"

"Do your brothers control lightning too?" he asked excitedly

"Crimson and Navy" she replied, slowly getting annoyed with his constant questions

"How come you guys have different colours?"

"Different fighting styles"

"Huh?"

Before she could go into details the two heard an explosion in the distance. Without another word they ran back to the rendezvous point they all agreed on. They were met by Nick and Maddie

"You guys okay?" Aria asked

"Yeah we're fine" Maddie said "But where's V and Xander?" she asked, clearly worried about her twin sister.

At those words Xander and Vida walked up, carrying a crazy looking chest with small red buttons covering the surface of it. Aria heard the blue ranger breathe a sigh of relief at the sight of her sister still intact as she kneeled down before the chest to observe it. Chip and Vida tried to pull the lid off but Aria pushed their hands aside and pulled the tiny scroll tied to the front. As soon as she pulled the red ribbon a timer started

" _This ancient puzzle is your task at hand; solve it quickly to receive what's grand._ " Aria read the small note " _But if you fail this timely chore, the Fire Heart will be no more_ " with that ominous warning in their heads they all shared a look before Chip burst out

"Great another riddle!" he complained

Not five seconds after Chip's complaint, the rangers were knocked off their feet. With her face in the grass Aria growled "Every fucking time!"

"Hand over the chest!" the Hidiac commanded as more of the Demonic henchmen surrounded them

"Let's ranger up! Ready?"

"Ready"

"MAGICAL SOURCE MYSTIC FORCE!"

"Galwit Mysto Ranger!"

"MagiStaff!" the Nick called as he summoned his Mystic Striker to attack the leader of the Hidiacs while the other five fought off the rest. Out of the corner of her eye Aria saw Nick get thrown to the ground. "Nick!" she cried, Xander managed to get to him in time, blocking the fatal attack and destroying the leader.

 **-Later-**

 **-Rootcore-**

After the short battle the six rangers went back to the tree to try and figure out how to solve the puzzle. For the past twenty minutes Aria and Maddie, the brainiacs of the team, sat in front of the chest trying to figure out how to open the damn thing.

"Ugh, it's counting down!" Aria groaned in frustration as _another_ combination failed. "Sorry guys" Maddie sighed

"Give me a sec…" Aria said before rushing to grab her Ninja Storm communicator. "Cam?" she said

 _"_ _Aria? What's the problem?"_ he asked in a panicked voice

"We need your help with something, we need to figure out a way to open this chest or else it will destroy whatever's inside"

 _"_ _I'll need to take a look…"_

Using the old monitor Cam and Aria were able to start a video chat, allowing the old Samurai ranger to check out the chest. Aria gave him the full 360 and waited for his response.

 _"_ _I've never seen anything like it"_ he admitted

"Do you think you can solve it?" Maddie asked hopefully

 _"_ _I'd need to be there, unfortunately, I can't leave the Academy while dad is on his meditation retreat"_ Cam said, rolling his eyes a little

"He always took those at the worst times" Aria reminisced "Thanks anyway Cam, I'll see you guys soon"

After hanging up with him there was now 40 minutes left on the clock

The rangers circled around the chest, while Xander kept to himself, scratching furiously at the back of his neck. "I don't even know where to begin" Chip commented

"Then none of us do" Maddie breathed, frustrated that they couldn't figure out how to open the chest still "And we've already lost half an hour"

Aria noticed how Xander kept stepping back from the group, as well as some stray leaves in his hair. "You've still got leaves in your hair from the battle dude" she said, reaching behind him to pull them out. to her surprise the leaves were stuck to his head, as if it was growing out of him

"OW!" Xander yelped "It's nothing" he tried as the black ranger took a step back. A few seconds later he sighed and made his confession "I'm just having a little issue" Xander opened his arms to reveal that from his bicep to the tips of his fingers were all covered in wood. The four main rangers laughed while Aria had a worried expression on his face.

"This is funny to you guys?" he asked offended

They all nodded yes, not even trying to hide their amusement while Aria still had worry and concern etched on her face.

"Oh come on Xander," Vida egged "Hey, you always laugh at Claire when she turns herself into funny stuff"

"I'm sure it's just a side effect of your organic powers" Maddie tried "It'll go away…knock on wood"

"Guys, guys come on…'leaf' Xander alone" Nick said, causing another burst of laughter from the group.

Fed up Aria spoke up, quite loudly may I add "Hey! This is just another problem we have to face with. We don't know what's causing Xander's transformation and we don't know how serious this could be. But right now we have less than forty minutes left to open this chest"

The four other rangers' faces fell and went back to staring at the chest

"Hey I got it!" Chip announced

"What you solved the puzzle?" Aria asked

"No, but I think I know who can"

 **-Rock Porium-**

Chip, Vida, and Aria presented Toby with the chest claiming that it was the hardest puzzle in the world. After announcing that he could do it before the time runs out Aria bowed her head towards the other two to talk a little more privately.

"You sure he could do it?" Aria asked, a little unsure about Toby's 'skills'

"Hey, don't worry, He can do it. all we have to do is create a diversion after he solves it and slip it outta here" Chip reassured "Simple"

"Famous last words" Vida smirked before turning over her shoulder

Aria followed her towards the front of the store when the two girls found Xander sneaking in, decked out in a trench coat, fedora, and sunglasses

"V, Ria!" he whispered

'Ria, huh, that's a new one' she thought to herself as she approached the green ranger

"Still blossoming I see?" Vida teased, Aria shot her a pointed look

"It's getting worse," he panicked "Look" he opened his shirt a little to reveal a patch of moss growing on his chest as if it were chest hair

"Ooh, some girls like a mossy chest" Vida mocked

Aria smacked her in the arm with a little jolt of electricity, just as she'd done with her brothers, making her rub her now sore arm "This is getting serious Vida"

"I can't be seen like this" Xander complained

" _Or_ more importantly, what if it doesn't stop? For all we know he could turn into a tree" Aria added

"It could go away…in the fall" Vida laughed. But she saw the tired looks she composed herself "Look, you didn't do anything to cause it so I'm sure it'll fix itself" she shrugged

"I did do something" he admitted

Aria sighed "Of course you did"

"I sprayed myself with Claire's 'Perfection Potion' hoping to fix my nose" he turned on his heel and ran out the door.

Aria and Vida followed after him

 **-Rootcore-**

The two girls ran inside to find Claire sulking at her pot of flowers

"Hey, have you seen Xander?" Vida asked

"No," Claire grumbled "But look, my potion failed, all of those pretty flowers I sprayed died." Vida and Aria stared at the dry, dark roses that stood limp in their vase

"Xander…." The two girls breathed when they realized that the vain green ranger didn't have much time left.

 **-Later-**

Vida was tasked to locate the missing green ranger while Aria stayed behind to work on an antidote for the potion. After various tests and multiple combinations the two apprentices managed to figure out the antidote to Claire's potion.

Aria quickly poured it in an empty vial and raced out the door

 **-Forest-**

A quick hop into a shadow and Aria appeared before her friends. Noticing Xander was taking root and losing mobility she tossed the vial to Vida

"V! Use your magic to make the potion rain on Xander. It's the fastest way"

Vida gave a nod and did exactly as she was told. She became a pink cloud and rained on Xander. Seconds later, their Minotaur was back to normal

"It worked!" Aria cheered, breathing a sigh of relief

"It's gone! Thank you" Xander smiled at Vida "I could not have gone through this without you"

"The fuck am I?" Aria teased, placing a hand on her hip "Thanks Ria for the antidote"

Xander's morpher beeped alerting a new spell code as well as a message from Nick calling for help. The two looked at Aria

"Go, you have a new spell code, use it. I'll be watching if you need my help"

The pink and green rangers nodded and ran off to battle. Aria shadow-traveled back to Rootcore to watch the battle

 **-Rootcore-**

Aria joined Udonna and Claire around the Crystal Ball to watch the battle. Xander's new spell code gave him red boxing gloves with the Mystic Force symbol on them, the boxing gloves also gave him incredible speed, allowing to bob-and-weave attacks. It was with these new boxing gloves that Xander was able to defeat the monster.

 **-Later-**

 **-Rock Porium-**

The six rangers waited outside of Toby's office nervously while he continued trying to solve the puzzle. "I think I've got it!" Toby announced causing them all to storm into the cramped office space.

With a quick explanation of the puzzle Toby pressed one of the many red buttons on the chest and with a ding the lock opened.

"I'm the greatest puzzle solver on the face of the planet!" he announced

Before he could reach for the chest Aria felt Nick's hands push her forward while Chip and Xander slipped the chest from under Toby's nose and out of Rock Porium

"Hey Toby have you met our friend Aria?" Nick began, hoping to distract him

"Uh, no, should I have met her?" he questioned

"She's the singer outside the shop."

"The one who brings in the customers?" Toby asked with wide eyes

Nick gave a nod and Aria stuck her hand out "Uh hi…hope you don't mind that"

"Are you kidding me? Business is great whenever you're out there? Do you have a job?"

Nick and Aria shared a glance "Uh, kinda. I help take care of my, uh, aunt" Aria said, using the same lie she told her girlfriends

"Doesn't matter! I'll pay you to play outside the shop!" he said, waving his hands around in the air

Aria laughed at his enthusiasm "Sure, I guess"

The two shook hands before Nick ushered the curly-haired girl out the door.

The last thing they heard was "Where's the chest? What's inside?!"

 **-Rootcore-**

The six of them stood before the chest with Nick taking the lead, "Here we go" he muttered as he slowly opened the chest

Inside laid a giant red, blue, and gold egg. A dragon's egg to be exact. Aria's eyes widened "The last dragon egg…"

A/N: Omfg I actually sorta, kinda updated on time. Go follow my other story **Lady Red** and check the poll on my profile. XOXO **R &R**


	12. Chapter 11

(Disclaimer: I have returned! Yo, I know I've said that I was gonna be better about updating but with dance camp and school starting up again...fml. Anyway, here ya go!"

 **Chapter 11: The Gatekeeper pt. I**

 **-Wind Academy-**

Aria and Dustin walked hand in hand throughout the Academy, sharing stories of their lives; Dustin with his classes and Aria with her latest battles. Some of the students stopped and stared at the couple in awe at the presence of two former Ninja Rangers.

It was nice for her to be able to come visit her friends, she just hoped her former band mates didn't hate her for just dropping off the face of the Earth

"I was talking to Hunter earlier" Dustin started "And he says Lila and the others miss you"

Aria smiled sadly "I miss them too, but you know I can't say anything. It's just harder now than before cause I live in a giant wooden dragon" she scoffed

Dustin smiled at her "Well, when this is all over you're coming back down here right?"

"Of course" she smiled

The two leaned in but before they could meet in the middle her morpher alerted her of an attack

"Shit, I gotta go I'm sorry" she apologized

"It's fine" he laughed "Go get em"

She smiled at him one last time and melted into the shadows. She ended up just outside of the academy and streaked back to Briarwood

 **-Briarwood-**

Now morphed and ready for battle she found her friends already fighting off Necrolai. She joined in on the fun joining Nick in trying to overpower her. Unfortunately she batted them aside easily when her eyes fell on something moving among the boxes surrounding them. Toby was there crouched behind a tall wooden crate. Necrolai spotted him to and made her way towards him, Aria leapt in front of her and blocked her path

"Out of my way" she commanded

"What do you want from him?" she demanded

"The Gatekeeper will be mine" Necrolai announced

"Gatekeeper?" Nick asked, the title sounded familiar to Aria

"He possesses more power than all of you put together. I'll be back!" she cackled as she flew off

"What was she talking about?" Nick said quietly

"Come on, we gotta tell Udonna" Aria warned, soon they all took off to regroup at Rootcore.

 **-Rootcore-**

The Five followed Aria as she raced inside; "Udonna!" she called "Udonna, something happened"

"We just had a close encounter with Necrolai" Xander said

"She's looking for the Gatekeeper" Aria blurted, "How can that be possible?"

"Who's the Gatekeeper?" Nick tried

Udonna was silent, "Who _was_ the Gatekeeper Udonna?" Aria asked, she had only known what the Gatekeeper did, not who they were

"The Gatekeeper was a powerful sorceress named Niella" she finally revealed "She was my sister"

The rangers had looks of shock on their faces

"Niella cast a spell that sealed the gate and banished Morticon and his armies to the Underworld. The spell was so strong that it depleted all of her life force. When the gate was lowered to the depths Niella was gone"

Aria couldn't believe what she was hearing, she never knew Udonna had a sister and that story made her think of her own siblings

"But her spirit lives on in my heart and through the legacy of her heir"

"She had a child?" Maddie asked

"Yes, and I fear that is who Necrolai is seeking"

"Well we have to find them first, protect them from Necrolai" Aria said, the others nodded their heads in agreement

"You won't have to look far, Niella's daughter and the heir to the Gatekeeper's power…is Claire"

As if on cue Claire suddenly appeared in the middle of the room, whimpering nervously as all eyes fell on her

 **-Later-**

 **-Briarwood-**

 _"_ _So Claire, the one who turned herself into a sheep, has legendary powers?"_ Dustin repeated through the phone

"Pretty much"

 _"_ _So now what?"_

"Waiting game I guess, she should be fine if she stays at Rootcore but she seemed shaken up a bit" Aria sighed

As if on cue her morpher signaled another attack from Necrolai

"I gotta go, I'll tell you the details later"

 _"_ _Be safe, love you"_ Dustin said

"Love you" she hung up and raced to the woods to guard Claire

 **-Rootcore-**

Stepping into the main room of the tree Aria could hear Udonna calling out Claire's name

"Udonna what's wrong?"

"Claire, she's run off" Udonna informed the black ranger

"Okay she couldn't have gotten far" Aria tried to calm the older sorceress down "Come on, we'll find her"

Using the crystal ball the two tried to locate the runaway apprentice, which is a lot harder than you'd think considering all the trees in these woods look the same. When they finally found her the two rushed to meet her

 **-Woods-**

As soon as Claire took a seat on a fallen log under a low branch Udonna appeared beside her in a shimmer of light while Aria appeared before her from the shadows.

"Claire thank goodness we found you" Udonna blurted out "What are you doing out here alone?"

"Nothing" Claire mumbled, not looking her aunt in the eye

"I don't blame you for being upset with me"

"It's just not fair" Claire said, her voice cracking slightly

Aria sat on the grass in front of her friend

"What's not fair Claire?" she asked gently

"Being the Gatekeeper is my legacy!" she said to her aunt "You can't keep that power from me forever"

"Claire, there are things you just don't understand" Udonna tried

"I understand…you don't think I can handle it because I'm incompetent and bumbling and clumsy and…"

"Exactly as your mother was" Udonna interrupted smiling at the thought of her lost sister "You are so much like her"

"But I thought that she was a great sorceress…"

"Oh she was…but not at first, in fact she blew up our cottage quite a few times trying to get her spells right"

"Everyone has to start somewhere Claire" Aria reminded

"Easy for you to say" Claire sniffled "You're an amazing sorceress Aria"

The raven haired Mystic laughed lightly "Do you know how I first got my powers?"

Claire thought about it for a second before realizing that Aria never told her how she first handled receiving her powers

"My brothers and I were messing around when we were younger when Hunter, the oldest, stole something of mine. Long story short I attacked my own brother" Aria said "And for the next 12 years I shut myself away from everyone, only recently have I been able to control myself"

"I didn't know…" Claire admitted putting a hand on her friend's shoulder

"But you see, even the most powerful sorceresses were once like you" Udonna reminded

"Then why-"

"I promised her to always keep you from harm" Udonna said "And I've tried my best to keep that promise"

"And you have" Claire reassured "I couldn't have asked for a better protector…or a better aunt"

"Someday, you'll be ready to take on your mother's legacy, but not today"

There was only a second of bliss silence when Koragg had tto appear

"We meet again sorceress" he greeted

Aria shot up from the ground and shielded the other two "What do you want Koragg?" she demanded, her hands balling up into fists as her eyes started to turn black

Udonna stood behind her and told Claire to stand back, "Leave the child alone Koragg" she begged

"What use would I have for that silly girl? I've come for you" he threatened

From behind Aria Udonna withdrew her wand and attempted to fire a spell at Koragg who cast his counter-spell and knocked the wand from her hand

"Your power is weak without your snow staff" he laughed

"But mine isn't" Aria called and fired her own attack. This spell did manage to push Koragg back a bit but he came back and fired his own spell back, this one much stronger than hers. Aria was thrown aside and he took this time to trap Udonna in a glowing gold sphere

"No!" Aria cried as she tried to fire another attack Koragg shielded himself and held the gold sphere in his hand

"With all the protectors of the human world in our grasp, surely the Gatekeeper will step forward"

And Claire did step forward, but only to grab Udonna's forgotten wand and attempted to cast a spell "Let her go!" she demanded. The wand had no effect what so ever

"Nice try apprentice" he mocked before vanishing in his spell seal. Aria fired one last time, but she was too late. Koragg had already taken Udonna and all that was left was a scorched patch of grass that Aria's magic left.

Fueled by anger, Aria stood up and proceeded to fire at the spot where Koragg just was as if he were still there. Only when Claire placed a gentle hand on her shoulder did she realize that her body was surrounded in a mass of black. Looking at her friends tear stained face she was able to calm herself down.

"We'll get her back Claire, I can promise you that" she said in all seriousness, she hugged the blonde apprentice before making their way back to Rootcore.

 **-Rootcore-**

"Guys?" Aria called

"Ranger? Help! Udonna's been captured!" Claire rambled. The two had raced to Rootcore to try and find the other rangers. However they found no one in the tree; when they looked into the crystal ball they soon realized that the Five were locked in battle with Necrolai in the city plaza

"Claire, you stay here I'm gonna help them out" Aria said

"But-"

"Please Claire" Aria begged "Wait here"

Claire remained silent and Aria took a few steps back to morph "MAGICAL SOURCE, MYSTIC FORCE!"

"Gawlit Mysto Ranger!"

"Mysterious as Shadow; Black Mystic Ranger!"

She hopped onto her Mystic Racer and flew down to help her friends

 **-City Plaza-**

She spotted her friends on the ground as Necrolai laughed evilly "Foolish rangers!"

"Hey bat bitch!" Aria called from the sky, she leapt from her racer and landed in front of her friends

"Ria!" Nick said in relief as he got to his feet. He raised his sword and faced Necrolai "You're the fool if you think we're giving the Gatekeeper up!"

With a mighty battle cry Nick and Aria charged for Necrolai. Said villainess fired her own attacks but her efforts were futile as the two rangers knocked them out of the way. The three were now locked in a fierce battle, Nick keeping her busy while Aria slashed her daggers across her back. When Necrolai turned to face Aria, Nick copied Aria's movements. Growing tired of their actions Necrolai slashed the two of them across their stomachs sending them back a few feet. Stunned by the strength behind it Necrolai was able to send them flying to their friends once more.

"fuck" they groaned as they struggled to get up again. Having a bit of extra strength Aria slowly stood back up and glared at Necrolai

"Want some more?" she mocked and raised her talons

Aria leapt into the air and landed a kick to her chest, knocking the wind out of her. "Just getting started" she fired back. Using her Mystic Daggers Aria did everything she could to overpower Necrolai, but it wasn't enough. Within minutes Aria tossed back to her friends groaning in the pain coursing through her body.

Necrolai slowly approached the fallen rangers "You're beat. And no one has come to save you. Maybe there is no other Gatekeeper". She raised her hand in preparation for the final strike when a bright, shimmering magic knocked her aside. All the rangers' heads snapped in the direction of the attack when they found Claire running to them; one hand lit with magic and the other holding her mother's headband.

"Wrong Necrolai! My mother's spirit lives inside me" she announced, she was clearly terrified but Aria was proud of her friend's courage. She glanced down at the silver headband in hand and placed it on her head

Suddenly, the baggy blue and pink dress she wore was replaced with a flowing white and purple robe. Her head was covered with a long purple scarf along with the silver headband. Claire's already bright blue eyes intensified in colour as the power within her awakened.

"Power of the Shining Moon! Behold—The Gatekeeper!"

The other rangers stepped forward, leaving Aria to stand behind them, in awe of the once bumbling apprentice transformed into the legendary Gatekeeper. Aria was awed by the change herself but she felt something she just couldn't explain. Shutting her eyes and putting a hand to her head she felt a pulse in her brain before her eyes suddenly opened wide. In her mind she saw the giant glowing red eye again, a little clearer than before. Then, as fast as it came, it was gone.

"So there is another" Necrolai grinned evilly "My plan to draw you out worked perfectly!"

"You're going to regret ever meeting me witch" Claire said coolly. She held her hand out in front of her and her staff appeared. Necrolai fired an attack that was easily blocked by Claire. She cast her own spell and sent Necrolai to her knees, gasping for air.

"My new powers! They've gone!" she cried

The Five rushed to the Gatekeeper praising her for taking Necrolai down. Aria took her time; she was still confused at what she just saw in her head a few minutes ago. Nick noticed her absence "Ria? You good there?"

"I-I don't know…" she said honestly

"Come on, we have to finish this!" Xander reminded

The Five flipped into the air and landed heavily on Necrolai

"You still lose Rangers!" she declared, clutching her arm in pain. She took off into the air. But not without announcing "I'll return!"

Her friends surrounded the confused black ranger, all asking questions on whether she was all right or not, but she would have to wait. There was still trouble.

She shook her head a few times before looking at her friends "We don't have time for this. Udonna's been captured" she revealed.

As those words left her mouth both Nick and Aria screamed in pain, their hands clutching onto the heads

 _"_ _You will tell the Gatekeeper to battle me alone. If she does not come, your sorceress will perish."_

When the pain subsided the red and black rangers were panting

"Nick, Ria what is it?" Vida asked, putting a hand on Aria's shoulder

The two looked at each other before looking at Claire. "He wants to fight you" Nick revealed stepping up to the blonde

"Alone" she added standing beside Nick

"I accept" Claire announced

 **-Rootcore-**

Both Nick and Aria sat on the edge of the round table; their heads were still hurting from Koragg's message

"We shouldn't have let Claire go on her own" Maddie sighed

"You saw how she sent Necrolai running" her twin countered

"Yeah," Aria agreed as she hopped off the table and turned to face the crystal ball "But Koragg is a whole other story…"

At first the battle seemed to be in Claire's favor as she was able to push Koragg back a few feet but that was short-lived as he blocked what seemed like her most powerful spell

"Holy shit…" they all said as they watched Claire transform into a whole new version of herself

"She can go into Titan mode?!" Chip exclaimed excitedly

"Not Titan Chip…that's an Ancient Warrior" Aria breathed

The rangers watched the fierce battle and paled when they saw Koragg use this newfound power that looked eerily similar to Aria's to take her down. Clare transformed back to her human self as she fell to the ground, closely followed by Koragg. The Five watched intensely as Koragg pointed his sword at her. Aria's eyes were started to turn black in a mix of fear and rage at the sight.

"Fuck this!" she yelled and rushed out of the tree, the other's closely behind her. "Grab on" she ordered in a cold voice. The others didn't hesitate; they did as they were told and they soon melted into the shadow.

 **-Battle-**

By the time they got to the battle they were already morphed and ready to go.

"KORAGG!" Chip yelled as he jumped into the air, crossbow aimed at the knight, and fired. Aria appeared after him and fired her own magic, with a bit of her lightning, and met up with her friends. They five of them stood in a line as Nick leapt over them with the Mystic Force Fighters on his hands.

With a boost from Chip and Xander Nick used his Spin attack, hitting Koragg straight in the chest and knocking him back a few yards

"Pick on someone your own size!" he yelled after him

Necrolai then appeared out of nowhere and grabbed Claire by the arm

"Claire!" Aria called as she rushed to her friend

"Stop!" Koragg commanded, blocking her path to the frightened girl

"Let her go!"

"By the power of the Gatekeeper" Necrolai recited "Let the Gates rise up!"

Claire screamed in pain as the Gates of Hell rose from the ground and the bright blue sky turned dull and gray. Necrolai tossed Claire aside and the rangers stood there helplessly as the Gates appeared.

The six of them regrouped and looked at the gate in horror "No what?" Nick asked

That was a good question…now what?

 **REVIEW AND FOLLOW!**


	13. Chapter 12

(Here's an update for ya! i actually like this chapter!)

 _Disclaimer: I dont own PRMF, only Aria :*_

 **Chapter 12: The Gatekeeper pt. II**

The seven of them looked up helplessly at the giant black gate before them. "I'm sorry rangers" Claire apologized with tears in her eyes

"It wasn't your fault" Maddie reassured

"Look!" Xander cried "Up at the gate"

He followed his line of sight and saw one of the statues glow a bright purple before coming to life. The winged creature stood tall and leapt down to the ground. His eyes glowed orange as he fired a spell at them, causing the seven of them to collapse to the ground

"Get up!" Koragg demanded as he grabbed Claire by the arm, Aria had almost forgotten he was still there

"Let her go!" She screamed

"Stop!" Nick added

"You won't get away this time," he warned her before turning to face the rangers "and the gargoyle of the gates will take care of you."

"NO!" Aria yelled in a distorted scream as she jumped to her feet and grabbed for Claire, closely followed by Nick. Unfortunately both were weakened from the blast and unable to were easily thrown aside

The others raced to help their friends as Koragg laughed evilly and disappeared with Claire. As they descended into the spell seal the six rangers tried to catch them but were stopped by the giant gargoyle. He raised his staff and prepared to strike, "Look out!" Nick warned. They all managed to leap out of the way just as the gargoyle fired another spell at them.

Midair the rangers transformed into their Titans and faced the gargoyle off

"Phase two!" Nick called

The Five formed their megazord while Aria transformed her Titan's cloak to the giant black wings

She flew over the gargoyle's head as a distraction while the Five created their spell seal. Their plan failed however as the gargoyle vanished and reappeared behind them.

"What?" Aria demanded as the gargoyle slashed across the megazords back. The rangers tried to strike him in return but he kept teleporting to different angles, making it seem impossible for the rangers to touch him.

Aria joined in, summoning a long purple staff to try and aid the rangers but it was no use. Even she couldn't land a hit. Soon the gargoyle used his own weapon and pushed the six of them against the entrance of the Gate.

Morticon stuck his sword through the opening and pushed the Five back. Aria on the other hand was losing it, much like when the Abyss opened in Blue Bay; she slowly felt her dark side reemerging.

"Hello rangers" he mocked

Aria put a hand to her head, her wings transforming back into the cloak that hid her armor.

"Your megazord cracked the Gate enough for me to come through" he informed

Aria stumbled away from the entrance and towards her friends; she had to get away from that thing.

"Now your whole world will know my power!" he cheered "Yes! My time has come!"

The other rangers finally noticed their dazed friend and helped steady her, but it didn't stop the gnawing feeling of her alter ego emerging

"What's the matter Black Ranger? Can't handle the power?" he mocked

She could hear the questions the others were asking

"What?"

"Aria are you okay?"

"What is he talking about?"

Their question would remain unanswered however as he slowly clawed his way out the Gate

"The destruction of the surface world is at hand!"

The two zords were trapped between the gargoyle and Morticon unsure of where to go

"I've done it! I'm free!" Morticon cheered as he finally pushed the Gate open

He eagerly swung his sword and hit both zords, causing sparks to erupt and smoke to cloud their vision.

"We have to fight him?" Aria heard Chip ask

"We don't have choice" she said with a clenched jaw, trying to fight the darkness

"Come on!" Nick cheered as both swung their weapons at Morticon. He blocked them both and slashed them again and again and again. With Aria fighting her personal battle the Five were not fast enough to counter Morticon's strikes.

"Let's take it to the sky!" Nick ordered as the megazords wings extended and they soared into air. "SPIRITS OF THE ANCIENT TITANS!"

Aria let out a shaky breath, trying to maintain what little control she had and extended her own wings, flying up to join her team. Finally there was enough distance between her and the gate to push her other half aside.

"SPIRITS ATTACK!" they all commanded as their ancient spirits attacked Morticon one by one.

But he wasn't going down that easily, to their surprise he blocked one of their heaviest attacks and pulled them down from the sky. Aria dove down to try and help them but was batted aside like a fly.

"Is that the best you got?" Morticon mocked

"Hardly" Nick replied through gritted teeth

At his words Morticon's sword conjured an aura of dark magic similar to Aria's and prepared to strike "Now you'll see what true power feels like! DARK MAGIC STRIKE!"

"NO!" Aria cried

She jumped in front of her friends, taking the full blow. But it wasn't enough, her friends still ended up getting hit and caused the megazord to break down, sending her friends plummeting to the ground.

She let out a strangled cry, feeling the dark energy awaken once more within her.

"ARIA!" her friends screamed when they realized she was still surrounded by the dark magic. The dark magic surrounding her soon dispersed, revealing her in her human form floating in the air. Her wild, curly hair whipping around and her usually beautiful pale green eyes a pitch black.

"Impossible!" Morticon cried in frustration

"You hurt my friends" she said through clenched teeth

She focused on her anger and rage as her own black magic shot out all around her. Morticon did end up on his ass but he was far from defeated. Aria's energy depleted and she felt weak and dizzy from the amount of magic she exerted. She found herself lowering to the ground softly, landing on her knees and panting. Her friends surrounded her trying to get close to her but backed away as the aura surrounding her had not faded.

Their attention was then drawn to the skies; within seconds the once clear blue sky darkened to a dull grey, blocking out the sun. "What's going on?" Nick asked

"The Gate's opening" Aria responded, the distortion in her voice getting stronger as well as the aura around her

They watched helplessly as Morticon and the gargoyle started trashing the city.

"Is this really how it's gonna end?" Maddie asked

"No!" Nick said, standing to his feet "This is not how it ends. Udonna said we were the protectors of the city, and that's what we're gonna do"

The others nodded their heads in agreement

"Ria, think you can handle it?" he asked kneeling beside her

"I-I don't know" she replied honestly. The aura around her kept getting stronger and stronger

"Come on we have to go" Vida ushered

Nick reluctantly stood up and walked to the remaining four

"MAGICAL SOURCE MYSTIC FORCE!"

"Gawlit Mysto Prifior!"

The four rangers transformed into their Titans and joined together to create the dragon formation

Nick delayed his morph and kneeled by Aria again "Ria, we can't do this without you" he tried "We need your help"

"Stay back Nick I don't wanna hurt you" she warned, her voice no longer recognizable; the edges of her cloak were burned and her hands began to glow

He reached out and held onto her shoulder, seemingly unaffected by the magic surrounding her

"Come on Aria!" he urged

In Aria's mind a flash of images appeared much like when Koragg uses his shield to attack them. But rather than seeing destruction she was able to see life and happiness; the bright blue sky, blurry, smiling faces, and two white glowing figures reaching their hands out to her.

The glow surrounding her hands disappeared and the aura around her soon disappeared as well. Her eyes were still black but she had gained some self-control again. With a nod of her head Nick helped his friend back to her feet

"MAGICAL SOURCE MYSTIC FORCE!"

"Galwit Mysto Ranger!"

The two were now morphed and ready to go. Nick summoned his bike while Aria called upon her Racer; together they raced to the Gate.

Aria suddenly cried out in pain as the Gate shone a bright red light

"You okay?" he asked

"We gotta do this quickly; I don't know how long I can keep it together"

He was confused by her response but remained focused at the task at hand. Hidiacs appeared before them blasting at the two rangers. Nick fired his lasers as Aria fired her own magic into the crowd. The exertion of her dark powers made it a little easier to keep the other side at bay, but not by much.

They were soon surrounded and they had no choice but to fight on foot.

"MagiStaff" they both called as they fought back to back. But it was like fighting a Hydra. Chop one down two more take their place, it was beginning to feel like a never ending battle. Aria eventually gave up on her MagiStaff and used her magic instead. A tendril of her magic would appear and grab one Hidiac and she'd use it to knock others out of the way. Nick was taken aback by her ferocity as he had never seen this side of her but was ultimately grateful for it.

However, he soon realized that as the light behind the Gate grew brighter, Aria's magic got stronger and she became unaware of her surroundings. She once fired her magic at a group of Hidiacs and barely missed Nick

"Watch it Ria!" he reminded

Finally they were able to get through.

"Come on let's go!" he called

"We have to hurry" she warned with a locked jaw, the pull was almost unbearable

Together they leapt into the Gate and landed in a dark room. Koragg stood before them with Udonna in a ball hovering next to him and a drained Claire behind him. Above her was a giant lock on the brink of being opened

"Let them go!" he commanded. Both rangers landed a heavy kick to Koragg's chest and pushed him back, causing the lock to disappear.

With the lock gone the other side of her backed off a little, allowing Aria to focus on her face-off with Koragg.

"MYSTIC FORCE FIGHTER!" the two of them summoned the red boxing gloves and challenged Koragg to a fight

"I never say no to a challenge" he replied cockily. With a flash from his shield the two rangers, Claire, and himself were sent to a new battlefield

 **-Unknown-**

"What's happening?" Nick asked

"Where are we?" Aria added, noting the fact that she was starting to feel normal again

"Your challenge, my battlefield" Koragg stated

"Fine" Nick and Aria said as they raised their hands to fight. They were evenly matched but when the two young rangers attempted to unleash the full power of the Mystic Force Fighters Koragg knocked them aside, causing the magic boxing gloves to disappear.

"MagiStaff Striker"

"MagiStaff Daggers"

With their new weapons Nick and Aria tried to battle him again but were able to keep up. Koragg was already a powerful opponent but add the fact that they were already weakened from their previous battles; this fight didn't seem to be in their favor. The three of them were locked together, neither willing to break it. So Koragg released the two and slashed them across their chests, sending them over the cliff they started out on.

"We're not done yet"

"Right you are" Koragg answered with his sword raised

"FIRE OF THE PHOENIX!"

"I SUMMON THE DARKNESS WITHIN!"

The two energies combined and hit Koragg dead on, but somehow he remained standing

"No!"

"Your magic is strong," he admitted "but it cannot compare to that of the Master"

Aria, knowing it would not affect nearly as much Nick, blocked her leader from the blast and took the full blow. But once again it was too much and both she and Nick were sent flying before crashing into the ground

"Now you know the power of dark magic" he said, pushing foot and shield onto the two rangers' chests "That power will always triumph!" he lowered the point of his sword in the two rangers' faces

"You're wrong" Aria said, her chest crushed from Koragg's boot. "Even I know that there is more power in courage"

"The kind it takes to keep going even when it looks like there's no hope" Nick continued

"I may have darkness within me, but I will never let it overpower me. I'll keep fighting until only light remains" Aria announced as both she and Nick grabbed hold of Koragg's sword, pushing it away from their faces.

"Fools," Koragg bellowed "just surrender!"

Koragg ripped his sword from their grip and pointed it towards them. They raised in their hands in defense. Just as the point was about pierce through them fiery, red wings surrounded Nick as foggy purple ones surrounded Aria. The force from their defense pushed back Koragg and shot the two into the air.

Nick dove down first, enveloped in the same fiery red aura and trapped Koragg in a spell seal. Aria followed, surrounded by her usual black magic and prepared to strike Koragg. He raised the flat of his sword in defense but only ended up with it breaking in half.

Nick and Aria stood side-by-side and watched as Koragg fell to his knees and disappeared in a blazing explosion.

With him gone their attention immediately went to Claire who was on her knees, panting from the magic that was drained from her. They rushed over and helped her up

"Are you okay?" Aria asked

"I think so, being a sorceress is tougher than I thought" she laughed weakly. Behind her helmet Aria smiled at her friend, relieved that she was alright

Behind them there was another eruption and when they turned around they found Koragg once again kneeling on the ground

"No way!" Nick yelled in frustration

"You may have destroyed my weapon, but you have not destroyed me" he reminded before disappearing again

"This isn't over! Get back here!" Nick demanded as he ran to where Koragg was just a second ago

"Nick!" Aria called as the young blonde collapsed into her "We need to help Claire"

"Right, right" he said shaking his head before jogging back to the two girls.

"The other rangers-" Claire began "Morticon will destroy them"

"What?" Nick said

"If we only had Catastros" Aria wistfully as she help Claire up "The last time we combined…the power was incredible"

"Then you'll have to do it again" After a bit of thought Claire said "Maybe we could combine our powers and get control of him"

"No Claire," Aria argued "This has taken too much out of you"

"She's right, we couldn't ask this of you" Nick added

Claire argued back "It's what my mother would've done"

Aria wasn't having it "Your mother is already proud of all you accomplished today, Nick and I will do it"

Nick nodded in agreement and Claire backed off

The two rangers stepped back "MagiStaff Full Power!" they called together as they raised their wands to the sky.

Soon Catastros's mighty hooves stomped the groundand stood quietly before the two of them.

"It worked" Claire breathed at the sight

"Remember us?" Nick called

"Galwit Mysto Prifior!"

 **-Briarwood-**

Nick rode on the stallion's back in his Titan form while Aria flew right over him in hers.

They watched as the Gate lowered and the skies cleared, allowing Aria to take the reins of her alter ego. Morticon spun around himself screaming about who dared interfered with him

"That'd be us!" Nick responded

"We too late?" Aria added

"Come on Catastros, just like last time!" in a flash of light Nick and Catastros combined and became the Centaurus Phoenix Megazord!

Morticon prepared to attack but Nick used his fire tail knocked him down.

"My turn!" Aria called and dove down onto Morticon. Using her staff the two fought hand to hand

"You should join us, where you belong" Morticon mocked

"I'll never join you" she spat in return and pushed him back. Aria flipped back and stood by her friends

"You insolent little ants!"

"Ria? Wanna turn?" Nick asked

"Hell yeah!"

The two switched places, Nick formed the megazord with the others and Aria combined with Catastros to form the Centaurus Reaper Megazord.

The two fought as one, tossing Morticon between them until he finally collapsed. The Five suddenly froze and a colourful light shone on them, signaling the arrival of a new power.

Aria stepped back and watched as the Five called "Ancient Power, Mystic Spell Seal!" as a frustrated Morticon tried to use his dark magic strike

Morticon's dark magic froze upon impact and he stumbled back.

"Udonna?" all the rangers called

In between them a hazy image of the white ranger appeared and with a nod of her head they all stood side by side. Raising their weapons up over their head as one they slashed down together

"The great Morticon has fallen" he screamed in anguish. He fell to his knees but before saying "You will join the Master Child of Darkness! The Master will prevail!"

Those were his last words as he erupted into erupted in a blazing explosion.

"Child of Darkness?" Maddie asked

"What was he talking about?" Xander added

Aria remained silent and turned her back to her friends

 **-Rootcore-**

The rangers and Claire all surrounded Udonna while Aria stood near the back of the room

"He said that the Child of Darkness would join the Master" Nick regaled "Who was he talking about?"

They all stared at the sorceress anxiously waiting for an answer. Claire and Udonna glanced at each other nervously unsure of what to say. Aria soon grew tired of the silence and spoke

"Isn't it obvious?" she asked the group "It's me…I'm the Child of Darkness"

(A/N: _DUN DUN DUN!_ Please REVIEW and FOLLOW! XOXOX)


	14. Chapter 13

_DISCLAIMER: I ONLY OWN ARIA_

 **Chapter 13: Revelations**

 **-Rootcore-**

The others stared at her blankly "I'm sorry…what?" Nick asked with a shake of his head

"You know what I said" Aria said quietly

"Why didn't you say anything?" Xander added

"It's not something I can just bring up in conversation" she argued

"It would've been nice to know" Vida muttered

Her teammates' silence was not comforting at all. She tried to look at them at in the eye but they all avoided her gaze. "Nick?" she tried but he didn't even look at her. "V?" the pink ranger crossed her arms and glanced down at the ground. "Guys come on" she tried again but they responded with more silence

She couldn't believe it; Aria thought they were her friends

"Rangers, this is not an easy subject for Aria" Udonna tried

"You knew?" Nick questioned in disbelief. All the rangers turned and faced their mentor

"No, it's fine Udonna…I can tell when I'm not trusted" Aria grumbled "It's not I did anything to help the team like, oh I don't know, make the morphers, help train you guys, invite you to a fuckin secret ninja school, but no. I'm the bad guy because I was too scared to tell you this dark secret." She ranted, her voice getting louder and louder as she continued.

Her friends took a step back when she finished her rant glancing nervously at each other

"So much for being a team" she scoffed quietly before retreating to her room, slamming her door closed

She stared at herself in the small mirror rooted to the wall. Tears welled in her eyes. She tightly shut her eyes to blink them away but when she opened them her eyes were black. She looked back at her reflection in disgust before punching the mirror. With the cracked glass staring back at her she shut her eyes again and when they opened her normal grey-green eyes were back. Her knuckles were split open and started to bleed but she didn't care. She grabbed her black duffel bag and began to pack. As she began opening the drawers in her room she came across her silver necklace in her bedside drawer. She went to reach for it but hovered her hand over it. Finally she dropped her hand and shut the drawer.

Within fifteen minutes most of her stuff was packed and she had changed out of her Mystics uniform and into purple shorts and a black tank top. She made her bed, neatly folded her Mystics uniform, and placed it on the bed. She walked out into the main part of Rootcore and saw that the Five had left.

"Of course" she scoffed

"Aria" Udonna called softly

She turned and saw Udonna and Claire standing side by side with worn faces.

"You're leaving?" Claire asked

"They don't trust me" she said simply "I'm just gonna take some time away"

"Do you have to?"

Aria gave a small, sad smile "Come here" she said, opening her arms for the blonde

Claire accepted her hug "I'll be back in a few days; we still bad guys to fight don't we?" Aria said softly

Claire nodded her head and stepped back to stand by Udonna

"I understand why you must go" she admitted

"Thank you Udonna" Aria nodded "I should get going"

Silently the raven haired ranger walked out the dragon's mouth only to be met with the Five sparring with one another. Not wanting to be noticed she quietly walked past them and towards a trees shadow.

"Where are you going?" Nick asked. He had stayed from the others and followed her deeper into the woods

She paused for a second before placing the cold mask on her face. She turned to look the red ranger in his eye "Back to my _real_ team"

Without another glance Aria melted into the shadows.

 **-Thunder Academy-**

The familiarity of the woods around was soothing to the black rangers crushed spirit.

She trekked through the woods of Reefside till she came upon the boulder leading into her old academy. Walking through the boulder she was greeted with the rebuilt Thunder Academy. The entrance led to a stone balcony looking over the flat grassy fields where the students were currently sparring. In the distance lightning in the colours of black, navy, and crimson were striking the ground at random intervals.

She crossed the cobble stone balcony to find her blond brother's back, his hands clasped behind him.

"Damn you don't see your sister for months and you don't even say hi?" she tried weakly

He whipped his head around and broke into a mad grin at his baby sister "Ri" he exclaimed as he ran up and picked her up in a bear hug. He now combed his hair back instead of leaving it falling past his eyes.

"What are you doing here?" he asked after setting her down.

"I'll tell you with everyone else" she explained "Right now I wanna hit something"

He chuckled a little before saying he'd meet her on the training field while she went and changed into a spare uniform in her old room. In a few minutes she walked out in her spare uniform with her hair tied up in a messy ponytail.

After a quick sparring session Hunter had to return to running the academy while Aria wandered around. Reminiscing about the time she, Blake, and Hunter spent around here.

She walked past a stone wall, the newest addition to the thunder academy. She stopped in her tracks and turned to face it. Sensei Omino had a memorial built for the Ninja Storm Rangers.

 _In honor of our Rangers who saved the world and rescued their fellow ninjas_

 _Shane Clark_

 _Tori Hansen_

 _Dustin Brooks_

 _Cameron Watanabe_

 _Hunter Bradley_

 _Blake Bradley_

 _and_

 _Aria Bradley_

She stared at her name at the bottom of the list and questioned if she deserved to be up there. After learning who-what she really was should she really be up there? Aria tilted her head and crossed her arms, burning a hole into the stone wall before her.

"Sensei's idea" Hunter spoke suddenly from behind her

Aria jumped a little at the sound of her brother's voice

"You've lost your touch" he laughed

She rolled her eyes and looked back at her name on the wall, "I shouldn't be on there…"

"What are you talking about?" he scoffed "If it weren't for you Lothor wouldn't have been destroyed"

"Can we head to the Winds?"

"Um…sure…"

 **-Ninja Ops-**

Aria followed her brother down the steps into Ops

"Guess who I found" he announce as he walked in

The others were already in there, relaxing after a long of teaching

"Hey guys" she greeted

"Ri!" they called, it's been a while since she's been home

She smiled brightly at her family before her

"What are you doing here?" Dustin asked as he stood to walk closer to his girlfriend.

She hesitated before walking to the low table, taking her seat on the black pillow that rested next to the yellow one.

"I may not have been a hundred percent honest with you guys…" she mumbled

"What?" Tori asked as the other ninjas took their seats on their respective pillows. She noticed the empty spot between Tori and Hunter.

"What do you mean?" Cam questioned from the end of the table

"I first met Udonna after graduation, when the Senseis pulled me aside to talk."

"We know this already, you've told us everything…" Shane reminded

"I didn't exactly tell you guys _everything_ " she admitted "One of the first things Udonna told me was that I was a part of this prophecy."

"Ok…" Tori said, eager to learn what her old friend was talking about

"The prophecy was about the Child of Darkness, the one who will either extinguish all the black magic in the world…or destroy everything good and light…" she revealed, resting her elbows on the table and running a hand through her hair

They all just stared at her, unsure of what to say "So you're…" Cam finally said

Aria quietly nodded

The tension could be cut with a knife; it felt as though hours were passing by rather than seconds

"Please someone say something" She practically begged

"What's there to say?" Shane responded

"Anything…"

Her worst fear were coming true, her _family_ was now turning away from her

"Ri," Dustin began as her palms began to get clammy "why are you worrying about this?"

She froze "What?" she whispered

Hunter spoke "Ari, we know who you are; you helped defeat Lothor, you made morphers for those Mystic Force rangers, why would we think you were going to destroy the world?"

"We know who you really are Ri, nothing is gonna change that" Tori reassured, reaching to hold her hand across the table

Dustin put a hand on her knee as she buried her face into his shoulder

"Hey what's wrong?" he asked

"I'm just…relieved I guess?" she revealed "The others weren't as understanding…"

"What do you mean?" Hunter asked, a hard glare settling on his face

"They wouldn't even look at me"

 **-Rootcore-**

"I am very disappointed in you rangers" Udonna said, staring down at the five rangers before her, she had led them into Aria's room to show them the made bed, broken mirror, and folded uniform that lay on her bed. Claire had hidden herself away in her own room, still upset that her friend had left. "Do you not realize how hard this has been for Aria to keep that hidden from you?"

"Just…why did she have to keep this from us, unless she intended on following the _dark_ path" Xander argued

"Aria is a key part of this team" Udonna reminded "But you do not know what she has been through"

The rangers were silent and Udonna carried on "Aria has been through so much, and while you should hear her experiences there are things that even she doesn't know."

They shared uneasy glances as they began to feel guilty about turning their backs on their friend

 **-Ninja Ops-**

"So your magic or whatever do you know if you were born with it or-?" Shane asked

Aria shrugged "I still don't know; all I know is that I either save the world or cause it to be destroyed" she repeated

"We're here for you Ri" Tori reassured

"Thanks guys, this means a lot"

"So are you gonna go back?" Hunter wondered

Aria sighed "I got to bro, I can't just leave them high and dry, plus they need me."

"When are you going back?" Cam revised "Because Nami, Lila, and Desi keep asking about you"

Aria laughed lightly "Long enough to see those girls again"

 **-Rootcore-**

"We shouldn't have reacted like that" Nick said shaking his head and pacing across the wooden floors of Rootcore

"I feel really guilty you guys" Maddie sighed from her seat at the table

Vida was sitting on said table by her sister "Udonna was right; we don't know what she's been through"

"So do we go after her?" Xander asked

Nick sighed "We should let her cool off a little; hopefully she'll come back soon"

 **-Blue Bay-**

The six rangers walked together along the beach with Aria and Tori taking the lead, the two girls were shoulder to shoulder talking in hushed voices. Hunter and Cam called Lila and Nanami respectively to meet them all at the beach.

"How's Blake?" Aria asked the former blue ranger

"He's good, misses home" she smiled at the thought of her racer boyfriend "He's in Jersey right now"

"You know when he's coming home?"

"He should be back in a few weeks" she smiled excitedly.

Their conversation was interrupted by the familiar screech of the fiery haired drummer Lila "ARIA BRADLEY WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?"

Said drummer came sprinting down the beach decked in low rise jeans, a white tank top, and a familiar looking crimson hoodie. Nanami and Desi trailed behind her laughing at the sight.

Lila tackled Aria into the sand. Nanami and Desi came over and helped their friends up and the four girls circled into a group hug.

"Where have you been?" Lila demanded

"We've missed you" soft-spoken Nami said in her pale-green sundress

"What've you been up to?" Desi finished, crossing her arms over her sweatshirt covered chest

"Briarwood, I've missed you too, and nothing much really" she answered

"Wow, Ri comes home and we just get pushed to the side huh Cam" Hunter said as the boys came up behind them

"To be fair we see your ugly mugs all the time, this one's been gone forever" Lila fired back with a smirk

Aria gagged "Ok I did not come back to watch you two flirt with one another"

The couple rolled their eyes

 **-Briarwood-**

Nick walked through the city of Briarwood with guilt weighing down on his conscience. He thought back to when the others had blamed him for stealing and Aria was the only to stand up for him. He also began to wonder about who Aria really was, what her story was before laughing at himself. He'd like to know who the hell _he_ is. He knew nothing of his birthparents; he was an orphan with no name. Just left on the steps of the orphanage here in Briarwood. Adopted at two years old he, his sister, and his parents traveled the world. He grew up as a military brat until his folks thought it would be best for him to have some stability in his life. He was then handed over to his aunt and uncle, his older cousins, and now his sister.

Now if he was being honest, he quietly envied Aria and the others. They had families, hell; Maddie and Vida are twins for crying out loud. They'd been friends with Chip and Xander for years and Aria had her own crew down in Blue Bay.

Then there was him, Nick Russell, the new guy. He sighed and sat down on a bench under a tree and watched the people walking by. The families, the couples, the groups of friends. He watched them silently, trying to imagine _who_ they were.

 **-Blue Bay-**

The group of friends sat in a circle and started talking as if Aria never left, or at least until Desi had to ask "So how's Briarwood?"

"It's uh, boring," she tried "Green. Too green, I prefer the beach and the race track"

"Really?" Lila laughed "Cause according to the news the power rangers are back and in Briarwood"

"Oh, yeah I've seen them a couple times…" she said nervously, the other ninjas glancing at each other

"Well besides that, how's your aunt doing?" Nami asked

"Huh?"

"Your aunt, didn't you say you had to go take care of her," Nami reminded "It's why you had to leave…"

"Oh! My aunt…yeah she's doing better." She couldn't believe she forgot the story she told the girls "I still need to go back, make sure she keeps getting better you know?"

"So how long until you leave?" Lila wondered

"A few days" There was silence among them, they all knew that time would fly "Hey, I'm here now, let's have fun" they all cheered and stood to their feet. The next few days were dedicated to her family.

 **-A Few Days Later-**

 **-Briarwood-**

The Five sparred at the mouth of the dragon but they were clearly off their game. Finally they stopped and addressed the elephant in the room

"When do you think she's coming back?" Chip wondered

They all shrugged, except for Nick he looked at his feet "I wouldn't be surprised if she _didn't_ come back" he admitted honestly

"What do you mean?" Vida asked

"Last thing she said to me was 'I'm going back to my _real_ team'"

"We really messed up you guys" Maddie sighed

"Where do you think she would've gone?" Xander added

They thought about it for a second before Nick came up with an answer "I think I may know where…"

 **-Blue Bay-**

The past few days have been very healing for the curly-haired ninja. They spent hours on the beach, at the track, Storm Chargers, and Lila's garage for some long-time awaited jam sessions. But as always the good-times had to end and now they were hugging and saying their goodbyes.

"I'll see you girls soon okay?" Aria promised as she hugged the three others.

"You better" Lila agreed

After the farewells and hugs were done she went back to the Wind Academy to pick up her bag

 **-Wind Academy-**

The six rangers returned to the academy laughing and reminiscing about their own ranger days. These past few days were a good distraction for Aria and she found herself feeling back to normal. They continued talking and laughing until they saw a rush of older students run past them and out the entrance

"Those were the Academy guards" Cam said

They soon found themselves following them

 **-Waterfall-**

"This is the spot right?" Nick asked

"Yup, like I could ever forget where a ninja school was" Chip reassured

They stepped out of the tree line and scanned the area

"Anyone know how to get in?" Vida wondered as they stepped to the water's edge

They felt a shift in the air…something was following them

"Wait" Nick said

They paused in their spots for a second before spotting several streaks of red, blue, and yellow

"FREEZE!" a masked ninja commanded

They were completely surrounded

"WAIT!" they heard Aria yell

"These people are trespassing" one of the masked earth ninjas explained

"I'll vouch for them"

"They're cool" Dustin added

The ninja nodded his head and the entire guard streaked back into the school.

"Thanks Ria, that was a close one" Xander sighed

"What are you guys doing here?" she asked in a monotone voice. The others stood behind her, Hunter and Dustin flanking her protectively

"We wanted to apologize" Nick said standing in front of the other Mystics "We shouldn't have been so quick to judge you on this whole prophecy thing and we're sorry"

Aria remained silent

"We understand if you're upset, you have every right to be," Maddie added, standing next to Nick "But we need you, you're a part of this team as much as you are a part of your old ranger team"

"We get why you didn't tell us and we're sorry for assuming the worst" Nick finished

She thought about for a moment before stepping up to Nick, the Five held their breaths "You do that again and I leave with the morphers"

Smiles broke out from the Mystics and Nick and Aria clasped hands before sharing a quick hug.

She turned to the Ninjas "Time to go I guess" she shrugged

"Nice seeing you again Ri" Hunter smiled "But I gotta go to, gotta school to run"

She rolled her eyes as he streaked back to the Thunder Academy. "We should probably head back in also, the guards probably told Sensei what happened" Cam reminded

"I'll see you guys soon" she reassured and after a few hugs they went their separate ways.

Turning to look at the Mystics she raised an eyebrow, "Well what are we standing around for? If I'm not mistaken you guys have missed three days of training?"

The all laughed and began walking away until Nick stopped Aria. "Ria, listen I'm really sorry for everything we said. You're our friend and we total-"

"Nick stop, I really should've said something sooner. But I'm sure Udonna told you, even I don't know everything about my powers."

"Well we should probably get on that shouldn't we?"

She scoffed and playfully rolled her eyes before pushing him along. "Come on; let's catch up with them before they get lost."

Nick rolled his eyes and they ran forward, reaching their friends before heading back to Briarwood.

 _A/N: GUESS WHO'S BACK! Sorry for the hiatus, but you wouldn't believe how insane the past month has been. but don't worry, Aria's story is far from over! XOXO_


	15. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14: Scaredy Cat**

 **-Rootcore-**

With Udonna gone, the rangers practicing spells with one another and Claire watching protectively over the Fire Heart Aria was left alone at the table with her nose in a book. So far she had not managed to find anything on her necklace nor her powers. She pinched the bridge of her nose and released her wild hair from its tight ponytail to try and relieve the coming headache.

"Rangers! Come help!" Claire suddenly cried, bouncing on the balls of her feet.

Aria sprang up, relieved that she now had an excuse to stop her research and met the others in front of the egg.

"You have to see this" Claire beamed

They all stared intently at the egg, "Uh, I don't-" Nick tried but was quickly hushed by Claire

Aria quirked an eyebrow at the egg and waited. Suddenly, the egg shook and they laughed in surprise. Claire grabbed Xander by the collar and shook him "See? See?"

"I do! I do!" he laughed, prying her hands off of him.

"This is so great! I'm so excited" Chip said with wide eyes "What does it mean?"

They all stopped and stared at him before Aria clasped a hand on his shoulder "It's gonna hatch soon dude" she said simply

"Does anyone know how to hatch a dragon egg?" Maddie asked skeptically

"Udonna will know" Chip said

"UDONNA'S NOT HERE!" Claire screamed, grabbing Chip by the collar and shaking him as well

"Claire, Claire," Aria stepped in and grabbing the blond by the shoulders "Breathe, breathe" she slowly inhaled and exhaled as Claire followed along.

"I know where we can find info" Maddie said, clapping her hands together.

Walking to the bookshelf she plucked a large white book from it and showed the others "1001 Things You Want to Know About Dragons" she read

Aria walked over and read the book over the Blue Rangers shoulder before twisting her face in both confusion and curiosity.

"Set upright and proceed to bludgeon it with a hammer" the black ranger read off

"Awesome, I'll get the hammer" Vida said almost _too_ excitedly

"OH NO YOU DON'T!" Claire declared, protectively shielding the egg with her small frame

There was then an unexpected knock at the entrance of Rootcore

"Do we have a door?" Nick asked as he rushed to the front

"It's a fucking dragon head of course we don't have a fucking door" Aria exclaimed as she followed him.

Opening the mouth the two came face to face with Phineas wearing a white bandage around his face, clutching his cheek

"Oh hey Phineas" Aria greeted

The Troblin only replied with groans of pain

"Hey you alright?" Nick asked and placed a hand on his shoulder.

Phineas pushed his arm away and said "Do I look alright? Do I ever come and knock on your…dragon-nose…thing? Do I ever wear a rather unflattering bandage around my head? Do I ever have a throbbing, pulsating, excruciating pain around my mouth?" he paused "Do I ever ask four questions in a row? Well five if you count this one" he rambled

"Phineas!" Aria called "You have a toothache?"

"Aha bingo!" he said "Can someone please help me before my head explodes?"

"Wait, wait, wait, let me see that" Nick said, motioning Phineas to come closer

Phineas opened his mouth for Nick who held his breathe to avoid the stink coming from the Troblin

"Aren't there dentists in the woods?" he asked

Aria put a hand on her hip and raised an eyebrow at him "Did you really just ask that?"

"What's a dentist?" Phineas asked

With a brief explanation to Phineas and a not so quick story about a 'Boulder Roller' it was decided, much to Aria's concern that they take Phineas to a dentist.

 **-Briarwood-**

The six rangers created a circle around Phineas who was decked in a long trench coat, fedora, and shades and guided him to the dentist.

Aria and Nick had Phineas' back so Aria leaned and whispered to Nick "I still don't think this is a good idea"

"What could happen?' he asked just as Phineas was about to take a step off the curb and into a speeding car

"Famous last words" she replied to Nick

A shrill voice soon rang around the corner "Help! get the Power Rangers! Monsters!" Leelee cried

"What?" Maddie asked as the others grouped closer around Phineas

"Beach cave!" she screamed

"Hey! Leelee, Leelee" Nick said stepping forward "We don't know where the Power Rangers are"

"Why don't you look on the other side of town and we'll look around here?" Aria chimed in

"You can never those costumed freaks when you need them?" she pouted and stormed off

"Who you callin freak?" Aria mumbled "You punk ass"

"Sounds like there's trouble at the beach cave" Chip reminded "Wonder why the crystal didn't pick it up"

"Hi, uh remember me?" Phineas said "The one with the tooth?"

"Right, someone should stay behind and take him to the dentist. Any volunteers?" Maddie asked

"Well I'm gonna be checking out the crystal ball. See why it didn't pick anything up" Aria said raising her hand

"Well someone has to stay behind" Xander repeated

As they all looked expectedly at each other

"Hey guys!" another voice called

Turning around they found Toby. Xander looked back with a smirk, "Then again maybe not…"

 **-Rootcore-**

Aria watched the crystal ball and found no irregularities with it. At the Beach Cave however she found the Five fighting a handful of Hidiacs but nothing out of the ordinary. There was nothing wrong with the Ball what so ever.

She watched as they ran into the cave and noticed and tiny flash and she froze. She repeated the scene and took a closer look before realizing that they had run through a protective field.

Jumping out her of seat she raced to the Xenotome and flipped through the pages until she found the spell seal that had protected the cave. She instantly paled, that protection seal guarded one of greatest allies and one of the most dangerous sorcerers of all. And god damn her if either falls into the wrong hands.

Leaping over the ledge that held the Xenotome she called the rangers "Get out of there!" she cried

"What?" Xander asked

She had no chance to answer as the cave started to shake and the seal broke, allowing Necrolai to appear

She threw the others out of the way and grabbed a mummy like statue before blinding them with smoke and disappearing.

"Fuck" Aria breathed

"I got a bad feeling we'll be seeing that thing again" Vida shuddered

"At least she didn't get the lamp" Nick said presenting the others with the blue and gold lamp

"Bring it back here, I think I may know what it is" Aria told the others

 **-Later-**

 **-Rootcore-**

"That's definitely the Mystic Symbol" Maddie said as the Five circled around the lamp on the wooden table.

"I swear I saw something about that lamp earlier" Aria mumbled from the Xenotome

"Maybe there's more writing" Nick thought as he took a rag to wipe some of the dust off

The rangers jumped a little when the lamp began to shake. Aria rushed to join them just as a cat in red, blue, and gold armor flew out.

"I am the Great Genie Jenji!" he announced "I grant you one wish"

While all the other rangers looked wide eyed and bushy tailed Aria groaned in annoyance. Genies were tricky things, you had to be _super_ specific about your wish.

"Genie?!" Xander repeated

"Yeah, you got a problem with that?" Jenji asked holding his fists up

"Well, no, no"

"Good…I hate violence" Jenji relaxed before getting to business "Now, here's the rules. You're the Master. I'm the Genie. You get one wish, can't hurt anyone with it-blah, blah, blah, blah, blah."

"Wow, a real live Genie" Chip said in awe "Always wanted one of those"

"One wish, don't take all day" Jenji urged "Got a lot of things to do, like sit in a cave for another 19 years!"

"You blamin' us?" Vida asked

"Oh, so now it's blame the big cat."

"So one wish right?" Xander questioned, as if this hasn't been said before

"Airplanes, balloons, cash, DVDs—not pirated, elephants, ferns, gold, houses, igloos, jade, kites, limes, moats, necklaces, opals, polo ponies, quills, -who put the steps?-, roast beef, six silver saddles, Texas, underwear, vases, whales, xylophones, yaks, and zippers" he listed while parading around Rootcore before taking a giant deep breath. "A to Z, anything your heart desires"

"I know!" Chip exclaimed "With just one wish,"

"Be careful what you ask for Chip" Aria warned

"I wish…for ten wishes for each of us" he said excitedly

"Granted!" Jenji announced "Like nobody's ever asked that before"

The rangers hooted and hollered in delight while Aria face palmed

"I wish," Xander said, stepping up to the Genie "for 100 diamonds!"

Jenji looked down at Xander's hands before him "You haven't washed your hands lately have you?"

"Nothing happened!"

"You guys had one wish" Aria reminded "Chip asked for ten wishes which was technically your one wish"

"Curly hair is right, didn't I show you the Genie Contract?" Jenji asked

"Genies are tricky creatures" she shrugged

Claire then walked out with the Dragon Egg in her arms

"Is that a Dragon Egg cause I'm hungry!" Jenji exclaimed

"Yes it is" she smiled proudly

"Can somebody say omelet?"

"Does you-know-who know you brought home a stray cat?" Claire asked

"Don't worry, I don't think we're gonna keep it" Nick said

"It's about to hatch. Better keep it warm" Jenji advised "Someone sit on it, it's uncomfortable but it's the only way."

Soon Claire was perched on top of the red and gold egg when Aria suddenly took in a sharp breath of air

"Ria? What's wrong?" Vida asked

"I don't know…that was weird…"

At the same time of Aria's reaction the crystal ball sensed a new evil force

"Evil doesn't sleep" Nick sighed "Ria, you stay here with Claire, we'll call you if we need backup"

"Right"

"Okay, bye-bye, I'll be gone by the time you get back" Jenji exclaimed

"Nope, you are coming with us. You owe us wishes"

"What about the contract?"

"Back in the lamp, you're coming with us"

"Fine, but you should know when it comes to fighting-"

Jenji never finished his sentence as he was sucked into the lamp.

With a bit of struggle the rangers finally made it out.

 **-Soon-**

Aria watched as a dark thundering cloud approached her friends before transforming into…

"Imperious…" she breathed

She watched as her friends were tossed around like ragdolls, even Nick's most powerful attack had no effect on the mummy.

"My turn" Aria said with a clenched jaw

"Go get em" Claire smiled

"MAGICAL SOURCE MYSTIC FORCE!"

"Gawlit Mysto Ranger"

"Mysterious as Shadow, Black Mystic Ranger"

 **-City-**

"I was misled into thinking you would be a more powerful adversary." Imperious goaded "Udonna has not chosen wisely"

"Think again!" Aria called as she flipped in the air, landing in front of her friends

"Another?"

With a fierce battle cry Aria fired one of her strongest attacks. The ground around him smoked and sparked but he was completely unharmed

"That tickles" he laughed

"What?"

"My turn" he turned his fan towards her and he sent his own spell her way. But like him, the attacks made her stumble but not throw her to the ground.

"No…" he breathed

"What haven't you heard? I'm the Child of Darkness bitch"

"No matter, now I will show you real power!" he exclaimed before a seal appeared below him and made him grow

Behind her, her friends came up from the ground "We got a few tricks too! Ready?"

"READY"

"GAWLIT MYSTO PRIFIOR!"

The Five transformed into their megazord while Aria expanded her mighty wings. Even then however Imperious towered over them and kicked the two zords down.

"Pathetic" he sneered

"Come on!" Nick cheered, the megazord summoned their sword and Aria called upon her staff.

The two flew up to Imperious's face, bobbing and weaving together.

"Oh look, a couple of fleas" he laughed as he whacked them to the side. "I'm growing bored with this annoyance. MUTRAFENTO!"

The entire team was forced to their knees, even Aria couldn't seem to withstand the strength of his magic. Both zords were smoking and sparking, neither knew what to do. That didn't mean they were giving up

"TITAN MEGAZORD—FULL POWER!"

"I SUMMON THE DARKNESS WITHIN!"

"It is time to end this!"

Before either party could attack Jenji the Genie appeared behind them, towering over the rangers.

"Who's the big cat now?"

"What's this?" Imperious demanded

"All right who's your daddy now, mummy?" Jenji jeered. He distracted Imperious long enough for Aria and the others to attack. When they got their opening the two slashed Imperious across the face at full power. Finally they got Imperious on the ground. The giant mummy stood and sneered at the rangers

"You were lucky, take this!" but the attack never came as Imperious cried in pain when he tried to use his fan. "My magic is still weak from my time in the cave I have to recharge"

"Ok that's for the info bud" Aria mumbled

"My apologies for not destroying you as promised, but I will!" and with a flourish he disappeared

"Well, peace out mummy" Jenji said holding both zords in his hand

 **-Later-**

 **-Rootcore-**

"Just trust us and keep em closed!" Vida said as she and Chip guided Udonna out of Rootcore

"Hope you don't mind pets cause we got a new cat" Aria grinned, holding Jenji's arm with Nick.

"Open your eyes!" Maddie said bouncing up and down beside Nick

Udonna opened her green eyes and smiled brighter than ever

"It's me I'm the cat!" Jenji said excitedly

"Jenji!" Udonna beamed

"Udonna! You haven't changed a day!"

"I've missed you so much! Where have you been?"

"Well let me t-"

"Daggeron…Calindor!" she blurted suddenly "Bowen…Baya*! Do you know where they are?"

"No, you see…"

However, Jenji was cut off once again as Claire suddenly screamed for help. They all raced inside and found Claire shaking on top of the giant egg. She was thrown off the egg and was caught by the ranges as they all watched the egg.

Within seconds the egg was hatched and before them sat a metallic red, blue, and gold dragon. The last dragon. Fireheart.

*Baya-pronounced Bay-ya

(A/N Another chapter done! I know my update sched is all over the place but this year has already been so busy. I'll keep writing whenever I can. REVIEW AND FOLLOW! XOXOXOX)


	16. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15: Long Ago**

 **-Rootcore-**

"So you don't know who this Bowen or Baya is" Nick repeated

"I've _heard_ of Daggeron briefly but Bowen and Baya…those are new" Aria confirmed

"Well, maybe they're friends or something? Fought in the battle all those years ago?" Maddie asked with a shrug

Aria shrugged "Maybe but she would've mentioned those names before."

"Rangers! Come over here please" Udonna called "I would like to try something"

Aria nodded her head towards their mentor and the others walked away. The raven-haired mystic went to her room and shut the door. From behind her bed she pulled out a large tattered book. Opening it to the marked page she reached into her bedside drawer and pulled out her necklace.

The beautiful ring was glowing bright on her bed, "What the hell are you?" she asked herself. Flipping through the pages she ended up empty handed again. There was nothing remotely similar to her ring. 'I swear I'm gonna rip my hair out' she thought, running her hand through her wild hair.

Sighing Aria rose from her bed and entered the main part of Rootcore. Finding the room empty she approached Claire who was occupied cooing over Fireheart. "Where'd the go?" she asked

"Aria!" Udonna called "There is someone I would like you to meet"

The black ranger turned her head and was greeted with her mentor standing beside a tall man with long blonde hair "This is Calindor, an old friend"

"Oh, um, hey" she greeted offering a hand. But he grabbed it Aria gasped as her eyes flashed black. She dropped his hand as though it were hot coals and stepped back "S-sorry about that…excuse me"

"I'll get her" Nick told Udonna, the poor woman watched in confusion.

 **-Outside-**

Aria's hand was clasped around her angel necklace as she breathed in the clean air around her.

"Ria?"

"Hey Nick, sorry I don't know what happened just then" she explained

"What was that?"

She shook her head "The only time I slipped that easily was when the Abyss of Evil was opened and our fight with Morticon…something's wrong"

"Tell Udonna-"

"No! She shouldn't worry about it…it's probably nothing."

Nick nodded his head awkwardly before walking towards the entrance

"Wait, Nick," she began "Listen, Calindor may seem to be a friend but just as a warning; whenever some new guy rolls into town nine times out of ten, they're not a friend. I mean look what happened between me and my friends when my brothers and I first came into town"

"Got it" he said, not really believing her and walked back in. within minutes the entire team was zooming out of Rootcore to fight a new battle. Aria stayed behind and made her way into the tree once more.

"Yes, the bumbling servant" she heard Calindor say arrogantly to Claire

"Servant?" the blonde repeated "No, I'm a sorceress in training, and who's bumbling?"

"Oh, excuse me, milady" he bowed deeply. Aria held back a laugh; this guy, whoever he was, was such a schmoozer. "And this must be your Crystal Ball"

"It is" Aria replied coldly.

"This is the one that let us know there was dark magic in the forest when they found you" Claire said, as if to clue in Aria what had happened earlier

The Crystal Ball was almost entirely black now

"And now it's saying there's dark magic here…" Aria said, grabbing Claire by the forearm and dragging her away from Calindor

"Udonna!" Claire cried however when the red headed witch looked up the ball was clear of any signs of evil.

"I don't see anything" Calindor stated

Aria glanced at the man with a blank face, a talent she mastered in her years before Ninja Storm.

"What is it?" Udonna asked

"It was here!" Claire rambled "There was smoke a-and dark energy"

"I saw it too Udonna" her voice cold as ice

"Can we speak in private Udonna?" he asked

"Of course. Oh child, you two work too hard" the older witch smiled

"I know what I saw…" Claire pouted; Aria put a hand on her shoulder

"I know Claire, we're gonna find out who that guy really is"

 **-Later-**

It was agreed between the two apprentices that Claire would go and blow off some steam while Aria stayed behind in case this Calindor character tried to pull something. So she sat and pretended to distract herself with a textbook as Udonna paced the floor, and Calindor leaning on a railing. She listened closely to their conversation, noticing how enamored he was when she mention the Xenotome. He left with the excuse to make tea and Aria approached her teacher

"Udonna, is this really a good idea? Calindor said himself he's been trapped for years, lost; who knows who could've gotten to him first" she tried

"What are you saying Aria?"

"I'm saying I don't trust this guy…"

"Aria-"

"The same thing happened to my brothers and I! We left Blue Bay and when we returned we were brainwashed by Lothor!"

"Aria!" she said sternly "Calindor is a friend, I trust him. I thought you would as well"

"Here you go" Calindor interrupted holding two chalices

"Thank you Calindor" Udonna replied with a smile

Just as she was about to put the cup to her lips Claire came running in "NO!" she cried as she jumped on Calindor's back.

Udonna looked up in surprise and Aria knocked the chalice out of her hand. The liquid landed on a book nearby and it immediately started to smoke and melt. Aria and Udonna grabbed the young blonde and pulled her close to them.

"Guess the game's over" he said sinisterly as he tossed his own chalice aside. He transformed into his Ancient Mystic self and then into Imperious himself. "Surprised?" he laughed evilly

Udonna placed herself in front of the young girls

"You're mine!"

Udonna used her wand and cast a defensive spell just in time to clash with Imperious's dark magic

"You can't overpower me without your Snow Staff Udonna!"

"I can't hold on!" she cried. Claire ran for cover but Aria stayed with her mentor, preparing to fight if Udonna were to fall. But to their surprise Claire had managed to cast a spell before Aria did

" _Meloria Orbis!"_

Claire walked to where Imperious once stood "Ha! Who's bumbling now bub?"

"You!" Imperious said as he tossed Claire aside, the poor girl had only sent him outside the dragon.

Aria sent a bit of her own dark magic but he batted it away with his fan back towards her. "Be still!" he commanded.

Claire was in Udonna's arms with Aria kneeling in front of them. The hazy blue aura around them kept them frozen in place.

"You were always a pain Udonna. Without the Xenotome the rangers be helpless at last!" he greedily reached for it but was blocked by a protective spell "I should have known," he said to himself in amusement " _Darius Melorium…_ "

Aria struggled against the spell she wriggled against the blue force as she tried to reach for her morpher.

"Soon I will have all the secrets of the Mystics"

From the shelf beside them where Jenji resided the lamp began to shake before disappearing in a flash of bright gold light.

" _Darius Melorium…_ "

Finally the spell broke allowing Imperious to take it for himself but before he could even touch it a flash of light knocked him aside and freed the three girls from their frozen state

"We meet again Calindor" a tall, broad shouldered man with curly black hai greeted

"Daggeron!" Udonna said excitedly

"I am now called Imperious!" he whined. Daggeron fell into his fighting stance before Imperious ran off "This is not the place. We will meet again. Next time I will finish you off for good!"

"That's what they all say" Aria mumbled to herself while Udonna embraced her old friend

"Daggeron, I'd like you to meet the new Mystics" Udonna said brightly. "This is Nick, Vida, Maddie, Chip, and Xander" she introduced "And Claire and Aria" with formal greetings over and done with Udonna and Daggeron excused themselves to speak privately

 **-Woods-**

 **-With Daggeron and Udonna-**

The two old friends walked side by side with Daggeron telling what _really_ at the battle

"I was running through the woods when Calindor attacked. The dark magic had overtaken him. He was strong, evil. I hardly recognized him. When it was over we were both cursed and trapped in a magical cave"

"Daggeron…" Udonna began "What happened to Bowen?"

Daggeron had a sad look in his eyes "I lost sight of Bowen in the battle. Didn't Leanbow find him?"

"Alianbow was…destroyed" she said "Do you know what happened to Baya?" she asked hopefully

"Udonna, Baya was given to Calindor…" he reminded cautiously "I do not know what happened to her"

The witch was utterly shattered inside, but she did not shoe it. her face was blank but her eyes; her eyes showed the hurt and pain.

"I am sorry Udonna, I failed you" Daggeron said, he was in as much pain as she "I failed us all" he said before leaving her to grieve

Daggeron walked in alone and weary eyed. He glanced at the others before sitting down at the round table and put his head in his hands.

Aria saw this as a bad sign so she went and grabbed her guitar before walking out to Udonna. Outside she found the snow witch sitting on a rock with a tear stained face.

"Udonna?" Aria asked

"Oh Aria how are you?" she asked wiping her face

"Udonna are you okay?"

"You were right Aria, my apologies"

"You're dodging Udonna"

"I'm afraid," she said shakily "That I've lost some people very, very dear to me"

"Ah, I know what you need" Aria said, kneeling down by her "Closure. What were their names?"

"Bowen and Baya" she sighed

Aria helped her mentor to her feet and kneeled in front of the rock. Picking up a sharp stone she scratched the two names into it. They were faint but, it was there.

"Sit with me" the sorceress followed and sat by her

"I did this for my own parents. Maybe it'll help you" she shrugged

She began playing.

 _Somewhere, over the rainbow, way up high  
There's a land that I heard of, once in a lullaby  
Somewhere, over the rainbow, skies are blue  
And the dreams that you dare to dream really do come true_

 _Someday I'll wish upon a star and  
Wake up where the clouds are far behind me  
Where troubles melt like lemon drops, away  
above the chimney tops, that's where you'll find me_

 _Somewhere, over the rainbow, bluebirds fly  
birds fly over the rainbow why then oh why can't I?_

 _If happy little bluebirds fly beyond the rainbow  
Why, why can't I?_

A/N: Hope you guys enjoyed! Remember to REVIEW and FOLLOW! XOXOX


	17. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16: Ranger Down**

"Oh nothing much," Aria said. Dustin had called and asked what was new in the magic realm "The others were sent to an alternate dimension, Chip almost got sucked into oblivion. You know the usual"

"Ah, those were the days" he laughed "Anything new on that necklace?"

She groaned in frustration "No, couldn't find _anything_ it's like the spell doesn't exist"

"You're like the girl version Cam!" he exclaimed causing Aria to laugh "I am 100% sure you'll find whatever that spell is"

"Well I wouldn't consider myself anywhere near Cam's level of genius" she scoffed

"Well you're a lot prettier than Cam"

"Shut up" she rolled her eyes

 _"_ _Dustin come on get off the phone! Eric got stuck in the ground again!"_ an unnamed voice sounded

"Dang it man!" Dustin complained "Got to go"

The couple said their goodbyes with Dustin yelling after Connor McKnight's brother.

Aria smiled to herself and exited her room to find Jenji standing in front of five bored looking rangers.

"There I stood face-to-face with the dreaded pirate Half Nose," he told

'Oh this again…' Aria thought as she stood with her arms crossed

"Despite having my paws tied and being made to walk the plank-"

"You free yourself and beat him with your sword!" Chip finished having heard this story many times before

Jenji shook his head "I had no sword. I was only armed with only my cunning, my bravery, and a little trick I picked up in Cat-Mandu. I like to call my Super Cat Attack!"

"Super Cat Attack?" Nick repeated

"How long did it take for you to come up with that one?" Aria teased causing Jenji to huff in annoyance.

Suddenly Claire burst in "He roared!" she exclaimed "Fire Heart just roared for the first time!" all the rangers sprung up from their chairs and raced to the blanket swaddled dragon. Aria was on her tip toes trying to look at the baby dragon. She turned to call Jenji over but he was already trudging out the door.

 **-Later-**

The Crystal Ball signaled dark magic in the city; Aria, Daggeron, and Udonna surrounded the Ball and watched the rangers battle Necrolai and Screamer, a giant blue bird.

"Since when did the overgrown bat have magic?" Aria demanded when she spotted the magic wand in her hand. She instinctively grabbed onto hers as both wands had the same black colour, symbolizing the dark magic within them. Aria felt a twinge of guilt and envy for the others who had Light Magic at their command.

"Fire Heart? Fire Heart?!" Claire screamed running into the main room of Rootcore "Has anyone seen Fire Heart?"

The three surrounding the Ball looked at each other in confusion before Aria pulled out her morpher and called the rangers.

Nick, Chip, and Maddie soon walked in

"Have you seen Fire Heart?" Udonna asked the trio. They all shook their heads "He's gone missing. Claire is beside herself combing the forest. If he falls into the wrong hands before adulthood he could-"

Both Aria and Daggeron heard the whimpering of the genie as well as the light footsteps behind them "Jenji" they said together

"What have you done?" Daggeron asked

"Uh…"

 **-The Forest-**

"Since dragons like Fire Heart grow into adults in an instant, I thought he'd be happier in the forest" Jenji explained as Nick, Chip, Maddie, and Aria followed

"We're not buying it Jenji" Maddie said disappointed. Aria wanted to be upset with the genie but she couldn't help but feel for him.

"Fine, don't believe me," he huffed "why do I care where that dumb, useless, attention-getting dragon lives?"

Three out of the four rangers were rolling their eyes when Jenji broke out into a run panicking.

"Hey that's my blanket" Nick exclaimed after seeing the old red blanket on the ground. He ran over and snatched it.

"Your blanket?" Maddie repeated "Isn't that a baby blanket?" Nick flushed with embarrassment "Aw you kept it since you were a baby?"

"This blanket is all I have from my birth parents" Nick admitted causing Maddie's face to fall

"Oh I didn't know that…" she stammered

"You were adopted too?" Aria asked

"Yeah, my adopted parents were great, it turned out fine. I just keep it…" he trailed off "I'm not really sure why I keep it"

"Well, I still have my baby blanket from my birth parents" Aria offered "I don't think I could ever get rid of it to be honest"

Nick gave her a small smile, grateful that someone understood him.

"Guys I need your help!" Jenji cried "Where is he?! I-I left him right here! Fire Heart is…gone!"

"Shit…" Aria mumbled to herself and ran a hand down her face.

 **-Later-**

 **-Rootcore-**

All the rangers stood around the Crystal Ball discussing their current dilemma

"No sign of Fire Heart" Aria sighed fiddling with the angel around her neck.

"I've got more bad news," Daggeron announced walking into the room "Jenji's gone too"

Aria's head snapped up to look at the Solaris Knight. "Maybe he went to go look for Fire Heart?" Nick suggested

"I don't think so he left a note. 'I'm not looking for Fire Heart; I'm running away, no one cares about me. Your ex-friend Jenji"

'Oh Jenj...' the black ranger thought

"This is our fault," she declared "We were spending so much time with Fire Heart that we forgot about Jenji"

"It's something he's familiar with," Daggeron revealed "You see, Jenji was banished from his homeland, cast away by the ones he loved most"

"I know what that's like…"

"Who would banish Jenji? He's great!" Chip asked

"Jenji was the strongest and most popular cat in the land. Rexigan, the very jealous King cat, had a witch cast a spell over the entire village convincing everyone that Jenji was evil. Everyone turned their backs on Jenji and he was banished. When I met Jenji he was a wondering Nomad…all alone" Daggeron then began the tale of how Jenji became the genie they all loved and how if he were to leave the lamp for too long he would turn to dust. "If Jenji doesn't return to the lamp within two hours, he'll be lost forever…"

But as always the villains had perfect timing as the Ball signaled Necrolai's return.

"You guys go, I'll stay and look for Jenji" Aria ordered. A quick nod from Nick and the Five were off the fight evil once again. "Where are you Jenj?"

 **-Later-**

 **-Dump-**

Ten minutes and a tracking spell later Aria was able to locate Jenji in a rundown part of town. "Jenji!" she called, ignoring the foul smell, "Jenji!" she exclaimed spotting the big, white, cat

"How'd you find me?"

"I'm a Mystic and a ninja; I have my ways"

"Better question, why'd you find me?'

Aria rolled her eyes playfully and gave a small smile "Cause your family Jenj" The cat scoffed and turned to sit down, Aria followed "You have to get back to your lamp Jenj, if you don't-"

"Oh like you guys care" he interrupted

"We do Jenji" she sighed "Look I know how you feel okay. The same thing happened to me a few years ago."

Once again he scoffed. Aria raised an eyebrow and told him of how she was arrested and almost banished from her Academy. "Despite proving that I was born with these powers, everyone believed I was some sort of monster. All of my teachers preferred my brothers over me, all except one at least." Jenji stared at the ground "We love you Jenji, yes we were paying a lot of attention to Fire Heart but we could never forget about you. We may have forgotten about your feelings but-"

"Yes you did"

"How many times do I have to say 'We're sorry'?" she laughed

"Six would be nice"

"Okay, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry. Good enough for you? Listen next time you get your fur in a knot you can't just run off okay? Trust me, I tried that once and it did _not_ turn out alright. You got to talk about. Bottling up your feelings and issues inside never did anything for anyone."

"You're right," Jenji agreed forlornly "I let you guys down. I deserve what's about to happen to me"

"Nothing is going to happen to you if you just-"

She was interrupted by her morpher, answering it Nick's voice came through "Ria, we need your help!"

"Nick? Where are you guys? Nick?" with no reply Aria closed her morpher and turned to speak to Jenji only to find him missing again "Aw shit…"

 **-Soon-**

Aria knew she couldn't look for Jenji at the moment; she had to help her team. Aria had to get as soon as possible and Shadow Travelling was the quickest way for her; despite knowing that distance would drain her Aria had to get ASAP. She had soon reached the battle in a matter of seconds where she found Jenji getting tossed to the ground and five piles of brightly coloured feathers.

She leapt in the air, drew her MagiStaff Daggers. Firing her magic at the blue bird.

"Jenji are you okay?" she asked. He answered in painful moans as Aria advanced her attack. Aria sliced through the air but the bird was light on her feet. Even when she tried to swipe her feet from under her Aria was unsuccessful. Aria tried once again to use her daggers but was blocked and slashed by Screamer's claws. The hit took the breath from out of her, which Screamer used to her advantage. With a final blast Aria was knocked to her feet and demorphed.

Jenji finally regained his strength and stood to his feet. Upon standing he saw himself fading away causing him to panic. "I wish I had more time!" he cried. Suddenly he became whole again, he is a genie after all. "No more taking it easy on you Birdbrain!" he challenged

Aria sat up on her elbows and watched Jenji tackle the bird to the ground

"Ugh! I've had enough of you!" she screeched

"You haven't seen anything yet! Watch this!" he boasted before going on all fours and charged Screamer "SUPER CAT ATTACK!" he leapt from the ground and repeatedly kicked her in the chest. His final attack sliced her beak clean off.

"My beak! My beautiful beak!" she cried

Jenji landed heavily on the ground before collapsing to his knees. Aria managed to finally stand up and found the beloved genie fading away

"Jenji?" she asked worriedly "Why didn't you go back to Rootcore and save yourself?"

"You guys are my family…my only family" he replied calmly "Tell Fireheart I'm…sorry" those were his last words as he puffed into thin air

"Jenji!" Aria cried as she stared in shock

"Hyah!" she heard Daggeron call as he leapt from the sky, lamp in hand. He simply held it out before him and collected the smoke from Jenji's disappearance. Aria stood and walked over to the Solaris Knight "Tell him yourself" Daggeron joked

"Ah, home sweet home" he sighed causing Aria to laugh

Alas, like most heartfelt moments amongst rangers, it was ruined with Screamer claiming that she wasn't finished yet

"You guys seriously have bad timing. Is that just a thing with monsters like you?"

"Time to ranger up Aria" Daggeron advised

"Don't need to tell me twice, MAGICAL SOURCE MYSTIC FORCE!"

"Gawlit Mysto Ranger!"

Soon she was morphed and ready to go, "Let's get her Jenji!"

"Oh yeah!"

Jenji's lamp flew out of Daggeron's hands and into Aria's "Solaris Laser Lamp! Jenji Shining Attack! Fire!" she pulled the trigger and out flew Jenji leaving a trail of black rather than gold. That attack was the last of her and she collapsed to the ground "Bye-bye Birdie" Aria smirked and she heard the explosion behind her.

All around them the piles of feathers returned to their normal state and Aria's friends were back; looking around wondering what happened.

"Grow Screamer!" Necrolai screeched

"Ugh, this routine is getting _too_ repetitive" Aria grumbled as her friends ran over.

"Thanks Ria" Nick said for the team

"Thank Jenji, now go!"

The Five and Daggeron wasted no time in forming their megazords to finally take care of the feathered demon. It only took them a matter of minutes to finally destroy her.

 **-Later-**

 **-With Udonna-**

Daggeron and Udonna were elated that Jenji was back to where he belonged, they were also amazed by how big the little Fireheart had grown. They had appointed Phineas as his babysitter when they were off protecting the human realm.

"He's a good boy" Phineas stated proudly "Thank you for letting me dragon-sit him."

"Anytime Phineas" Udonna replied with a smile

"I never got to see the other baby I left in the human world almost 20 years ago. Kinda makes me sad"

Both heads turned to the Troblin faster than you could say Mystic

"What baby?"

"Oops, huh, did I say 'baby'? No, no it must've just sounded like I said 'baby' what I actually said was 'lady', 'lady'" he rambled.

Udonna and Daggeron kept their gaze and proceeded to stalk towards Phineas

"What I meant was…oh…" he gulped "Her will is too strong...must tell the truth. Okay fine!" he gave "When Daggeron and Calindor were having their little dispute 20 years ago I found a baby. But with the great battle going on I knew I couldn't care for him myself so I took him to the human world. I left him somewhere safe." He admitted

"Bowen?" Udonna whispered "Bowen is alive? Daggeron I have to find him!"

"Udonna wait.."

"Baya! Oh Phineas, was there another?"

"Udonna…"

"Um, no just the one" Phineas said softly

"Udonna," Daggeron said sternly, gently grabbing her arms "If he is in the human world, then he is safe. We should focus on destroying evil before we put Bowen in harm's way. If they find out he's alive…" he trailed off

"You're right." He voice became hard and her face stern "We must keep this a secret…from everyone. Or Bowen will be in great danger.

He zipped his lip before tip-toeing away

"Daggeron…" she whispered to her friend "You said Calindor was with Baya…"

His silence and unshed tears were her confirmations

"I wish that she too found someone who took her away to safety, but…" he sighed "I've let them down"

"It was not your fault, as horrible it may seem, they are both at least safe from evil now" she thought with a sad smile

Daggeron blinked away his tears before entering Rootcore with his old friend.

 _A/N: I'm back from the dead! Okay, so I know I'm not the best at updating but tbf comp season started so I've had practice everyday, school has been insane, and I had so much work to catch up on. I've been so busy that I missed my own ONE-YEAR ANNIVERSARY! Holy crap I've been on this site for a YEAR (and a month lol)! I would like to thank all the readers that have been here since I first introduced Aria. Love you all! XOXOX_


	18. Chapter 17

_A/N: IM BACK! reposted because the format was weird. hope you enjoy! DO NOT OWN PRMF...duh_

 **Chapter 17: Dark Wish pt. 1**

 **-Root Core-**

Walking into Rootcore Aria was met with the sight of Chip, Nick, and Xander lounging on the steps, using their magic to play a game of chess.

"Isn't magic grand?" Xander grinned

"Yeah," Nick laughed "Except for all the fighting…"

"Better get used to it Red" Aria said

"There's gotta be an easier way to defeat evil"

"Maybe we can eat our way to victory!" Chip suggested "Udonna! Got any pizza?"

"We live in a tree dude, what do you think?" Aria suggested

"You can go to town for that" Udonna scolded

The boys scoffed at the both of them "Why? There's an easier way." And with those words Chip conjured up two pizzas for the three of them. Aria shook her head at their laziness as Udonna warned them, "There's a time and a place for magic rangers"

Suddenly, Fire Heart's roar shook the tree prompting Xander to throw one of the pizza's in the dragon's direction ultimately hitting Claire in the face. Aria sighed before picking another old book from the shelf to try and figure out what spell was placed on her damn necklace.

"Ugh," a disgruntled Claire appeared "How about a little heads next time huh guys?" Aria went over the blonde girl and helped clean off her face before she continued to clean the cave.

"Hey, uh, use your magic to clean. Its way faster" Nick suggested

She hummed in thought "Yeah, I guess so but I get a real feeling of accomplishment when I do it the old fashioned way. Hard work is really satisfying."

The boys looked at her like she grew an eye extra eye on her face.

"Claire, you are officially my favorite" Aria smiled, looking up from a book she was currently reading. The blonde smiled to herself.

Not even a second later Daggeron stormed in "It seems we have work to do, Aria we might need you for this one. Claire have the girls meet us."

"Great, more fighting" Nick complained before running out after him.

"They would never survive the Thunder Academy…" Aria mumbled as she followed

 **-Field-**

All seven rangers appeared on the scene morphed and ready to fight the samurai looking demon in the tall grass.

"Where's Cam when you need him?" Aria asked no one in particular

"You dare stand before me?" the demon demanded "You will fall by my sword!"

"Let's get this over with" Nick growled out before they all drew their weapons

"Yes, let us do that"

Within a couple of minutes the five primary rangers were on the ground leaving Daggeron and Aria to fight him off.

"I know this beast…" Daggeron warned before leaping into the air and firing at him. Aria followed suit and directed her own blasts as well. Unfortunately Daggeron was caught the beast's counter attack. Aria stood before him, blades in position to strike

"You are weak compared to me!" he mocked

Behind him Vida and Chip managed to stand up only to be knocked down again

With a cry Aria attacked blocking his strikes but not necessarily landing that many of her own. Eventually they were chest to chest, their swords locked against one another.

"You have surprised me, but no matter, you will fall" and with that he fired red lightning and sent Aria flying

All seven rangers once again were lined up together when Xander looked to Daggeron "Can't we use Jenji to wish him away?"

"Really Xander? Are you kidding me?" Aria yelled

"It's not that easy. Pull it together!" Daggeron added

Frustrated, Xander ran ahead and lead the charge but was pushed aside within seconds

"You are nothing!" the beast declared as he grew "I will squash you!"

"You guys deal with Warmax, I will help Xander and join you later"

With a nod they separated

"That thing has a name?!" Aria asked as she joined the others

" _Gawlit Mysto Prifior_ "

They did their very best to fight off Warmax but it was no use, by the time Daggeron and Xander came around the other five rangers were on the ground, struggling to get back up.

"Xander! He's too powerful!"

"Be careful!"

Xander's minotaur turned to face Warmax "Now it's my turn!"

"You are worthless Power Ranger!" Warmax taunted

"Who are you calling worthless?"

He lifted his ax to strike but Warmax was too fast. He blocked the strike and threw Xander back.

"Ugh, I'm sick of this" Aria spat as she willed herself to stand up again

"Aria don't!" her friends cried.

Raising her blades she used her full power to charge her blades and strike Warmax across his chest causing a fiery explosion. The others cheered for her success but something was not feeling right in her gut.

 **-Rootcore-**

Xander guided Chip into Rootcore followed by the others closely behind.

Udonna took in the yellow mystic's dirty face and limp and rushed to his side "Chip! Are you alright?"

"Yeah just a little banged up" he assured as he took a seat. The others didn't look that well either, or maybe that was just the scowls on their faces.

"I don't get it," Vida began her rant "We've got this powerful genie and we never ask for help!"

Daggeron and Aria sighed and shook their heads

"It would make things easier…" Maddie added

As if on cue the Crystal Ball detected more dark energy

"Well?" Nick asked

"Jenji's not the answer. Rest up Chip, we'll need you" Daggeron answered "The rest of you follow me."

 **-Forest-**

The six of them were met with a shrieking skeletal bird

"It's Shreika, I knew it!" Daggeron exclaimed

Aria spoke up from beside him "Didn't we just deal with a screaming bird the other day?"

Shreika simply laughed and grew before them.

"Ok they are NOT following the pattern here!"

"C'mon guys, let's Titan up!" Xander called

" _Gawlit Mysto Prifior!_ "

"Guys! We have to work together!" Daggeron reminded them

"No problem" Vida agreed before turning into a ball

She was passed between the others, charging her up with their energies before being kicked into Shreika. Vida simply bounced off and Shreika still stood proudly before them. "Is that all you've got?"

With a screech she fired purple blasts from her sunken eyes

Hidden from the smoke Shreika shrank back down to her normal size leaving the rangers to trail after her. but when they finally caught up they were blown onto their backs.

"Maybe now would be a good time for Jenji?" Maddie suggested

"No!" Daggeron insisted "We do it ourselves"

"We've fought worse guys, c'mon!" Aria urged "Don't let up"

Suddenly Chip flew in "Incoming!" he cried, crossbow at the ready. He blew Shreika back before jumping off his Racer. "Did I miss anything?"

With a growl Shreika grabbed Chip and hoisted him into the air, holding him still while she blasted at him continuously.

"C'mon guys get up!" Daggeron encouraged but was cut short when Necrolai appeared

"Just thought I'd drop in" she grinned

"Necrolai" Aria spat as she stood

"I have magic too now" she blasted the other rangers but Aria had barely felt it.

"Where did you come from wench?" Shreika demanded

Seeing that both were distracted Aria took the opportunity "I'm so over this" the beast fried her sonic blasts at the black ranger but she flipped away and directed a combination of her ninja and mystic powers at her. "Bye-bye birdie" Aria smirked as Shreika fell to the ground

As a final blow the others combined their magic and got rid of her once and for all.

However, still drained from their previous battle Chip demorphed "Did we win?" he asked

"Yes, but it would have been easier if had used Jenji" Nick replied and threw a side eye at Daggeron

 **-Rootcore-**

Daggeron and Udonna were outside, most likely discussing the ranger's laziness while Aria had her face buried in her book aware of Claire looking over her shoulder

"Is something bothering you Claire?" she asked

"Oh, uh, sorry, just curious…" she said "You've been studying a lot lately. I figured you would be using your free time back home"

Aria smiled at the thought. She hadn't been to either Academy in a while. "Yeah well, I'm not really studying, more like trying to look for something"

"Looking for what?"

"That's the problem…I don't really know" she sighed and shut the book.

Claire continued bustling around Rootcore while Aria retreated back to her room. She opened her bedside drawer and pulled out the silver chain folded within her purple baby blanket. Inspecting the ring closely she could still see the faint glow emitting from it

"You are gonna drive me crazy" she whispered to it before placing back in its place.

She then heard the chime from her morpher signaling more dark energy. She immediately sprang into action and rushed out the door.

 **-Docks-**

Once again all seven rangers rushed onto the scene to find two beasts standing before them. "Glad you could make it rangers!" a demonic, dog faced beast greeted, accompanied with the blast from his over-grown bubble-wand. Daggeron avoided his attack by leaping into the air and used his Laser Lamp attack. However, the attack seemed to have slowed down and caught in the hands of the second beast, a white, furry, hockey masked freak.

"50 Below, just in time!" the dog exclaimed

"Excellent"

"C'mon guys, we took two down already we can do this" Aria tried but even was nervous for the battle ahead.

"Now that I am here…you will be defeated" 50 Below declared

"Who are these guys?" Nick asked "They're so much stronger"

"You got that right ranger. We are from the Oblivion."

"Try this!" Nick yelled and drew his Magi Staff and attacked but was easily pushed back. Vida followed using her tornado power but was also of no use. Chip leapt into the air, crossbow aimed and ready but had his own attack used against him. Xander and Maddie tried to use streams of their respective magic but only ended hurting themselves. Finally, Aria fired her own Dark Magic at him and while he did stumble back a little she felt an invisible force knock her back as well.

"Ice Attack!" 50 Below called and punched the ground causing a strip of ice to appear. A ratty hockey stick appeared in his hand as he skated down the ice, making sure to knock the six rangers down as he did.

"Hurry! Get up Rangers!" Daggeron said but the six couldn't even hold themselves up

"Daggeron do something!" Xander begged

"Use Jenji! We're exhausted!" Nick added, rolling to his side

"No! We have to get up!" Aria countered but even she couldn't get up

"Please!" Maddie said ignoring Aria's plea. Chip couldn't even get the words out

Aria was now on her knees "Daggeron don't! We can't use him!"

"Just do it!" Vida yelled

"All right!" Daggeron caved

"DAGGERON NO!" Aria cried

"I've got a bad feeling about this…" Daggeron sighed as he fired up the lamp

Aria struggled to her feet to try and stop Daggeron "Don't do it Daggeron!"

But she was too late

Daggeron used Jenji to attack but somehow 50 Below was able to knock him higher into the air for the mutt to capture him into his wand. "Got him!" he laughed

"What?" Daggeron gasped in horror "Jenji!"

"JENJI!"

"You lose rangers!" 50 Below laughed as he knocked Daggeron into the water "Too easy"

And with an evil laugh they were gone.

 **-Rootcore-**

The rangers stood before Udonna who was standing by the Xenotome. Aria and Daggeron flanking her, both with disappointment in their eyes. "They captured him?"

"There was nothing we could've done" Nick sighed looking up at their mentor

"So you relied on Jenji?"

"We had too there was no other choice" Xander insisted.

"But you see there was a choice" Aria scolded "We could've fought. Like we always do. You've forgotten what it means to only be Mystic but a Power Ranger."

"Now that they've captured him…they can wish for anything" Maddie reminded

"I wonder what they're gonna wish for" Chip asked, looking around nervously.

"We must be prepared for the worst" Daggeron warned

 **-Later-**

After the rangers left the tension in Rootcore was almost unbearable. Aria stood with her back leaning against the round table fiddling with the angel hung around her neck. When a cold gust of air blew throughout Rootcore, the crystal ball swirling with more dark energy than Daggeron or Udonna has ever seen.

"Udonna what's happening?" Daggeron asked

"It's like the world has turned purely evil. I have never seen anything like this"

Arai turned and clutched the table, her knuckles turning white. "Udonna?" she asked terrified. She was feeling something she hasn't felt in almost two years; helpless and unable to control herself.

Looking up from the ball she watched in horror as Daggeron faded into dust and all of the colour around them had become dull and muted. She felt a tingling sensation all over her body. When she looked down at her hands, speechless, and watched her skin become paler and her hands turning into claws. She looked up at Udonna and Claire and they were met with the pitch black eyes faintly glowing red before she too faded away.

 _A/N: Heyyyy! K, so the format was all weird and I didnt really know how to fix it so thanks two **Guest Readers** for pointing that out. Thanks for reading! XOXOX_


	19. Chapter 18

_(A/N: Yall, IM BACK! I haven't updated since like July or something, but I'm here now! So sorry for the wait. I moved, started school, and work so I've been running on empty for the past few months...or more...Anyway, I have decided to upload three chapters at once. BTW I MISSED MY SECOND YEAR ANNIVERSARY! Please enjoy these next few shitty chapters 3)_

 _Disclaimer: PRMF aint mine, Aria and her story line is._

 **Chapter 18: Dark Wish pt.2 and 3**

 _Previously:_ _After the rangers left the tension in Rootcore was almost unbearable. Aria stood with her back leaning against the round table fiddling with the angel hung around her neck. When a cold gust of air blew throughout Rootcore, the crystal ball swirling with more dark energy than Daggeron or Udonna has ever seen._

 _"Udonna what's happening?" Daggeron asked_

 _"It's like the world has turned purely evil. I have never seen anything like this"_

 _Looking up from the ball she watched in horror as Daggeron faded into dust and all the colour around them had become dull and muted. She felt a tingling sensation all over her body. When she looked down at her hands, speechless, and watched her skin become paler and her hands turning into claws. She looked up at Udonna and Claire and they were met with the pitch-black eyes faintly glowing red before she too faded away._

 **-Briarwood-**

The five rangers huddled around together; all the colour was gone from the world, the people on the street were dressed in tattered rags shuffling their feet with their heads down.

"The Rock Porium…" Xander breathed

The much beloved music store was run down and boarded up prompting them all to worry about their eccentric boss.

Suddenly, Vida's eyes landed on a hunched over man pushing a cart up the street. His normally wild curly hair was matted down, and he seemed to be hiding himself from the world. "Toby?" she called out gently.

"Hey guys!" he greeted, his voice was hoarse "I was worried about you. I thought that…" his eyes widened in terror before falling onto Nick in the back. "Who's he?"

The five of them laughed nervously before Nick joked "At least he still has his sense of humor"

"No seriously who is he?" Toby questioned

"Toby, what happened to the Rock Porium?" Vida questioned, trying to ignore the sinking feeling in her stomach "What happened to all the colour?"

"You-You're trying to mess with me?" He replied gravely "You don't remember how the darkness took over? Four months ago…"

Nick shook his head at the coincidence "Guys," he started "somethings happened…the world as we know it has changed. Four months ago, is when I first came to Briarwood and we became…you know who."

"Hey guys!" Toby interrupted "Do you hear? I got…music!" he sounded like an addict almost "I still have to listen to it even though it's been banned"

"Banned music?" Chip repeated "Toby, who banned it?"

On cue, the trademark symbol of the underworld erupted and Hidiacs grabbed Toby, ripping his Zune away from him and crushing it.

"Let's Ranger up!" Nick said reaching for his morpher only to find it missing. "We'd better get to Rootcore"

They rushed to the tree again, trying to jump through the portal only to find out it was solid; the portal was closed

 **-Underworld-**

Imperious laughed manically at the sight of the five Mystic rangers rushing to figure out what had happened to the world around them.

"I want them to always remember what they have lost!" he cried "I'm a genius!"

 **-Rootcore-**

They ran as fast as their legs could carry them to their home away from home only to find it rotted away; the glowing red eyes were dull and the vines draping around the entrance were dry and brown. Maddie was close to tears as her sister tried to console her.

They walked closer to the dragon's mouth when Xander bent down to pick up the Xenotome…or at least a half of it. "What happened here?"

"What happened everywhere?" Nick corrected

A new voice emerged "Get away from here! My home! Get away!"

They looked over to find their mentor, Udonna trying to shoo them away with a broom. She wasn't the regal, poised, refined woman they had grown to love, but a shrunken, dazed version of herself.

"Udonna, don't you remember us?" Maddie tried gently, "You taught us everything we know we're the power rangers…the Mystic Force?"

"Liars!" Udonna declared "The legendary ones never came. I waited for them…they never came! Only the darkness, only the darkness"

Clare then appeared, dirt on her face and a protective aura around her, different from her normal awkward, goofy self. "There you are" she sighed at the sight of Udonna "I've been looking-who are you?" she demanded when she saw the five of them "You better not try and harm us!"

"Claire we would never harm you" Xander reassured

"You know my name…You must be one of them!"

"No," Chip added "We're your friends"

Nick spoke "Claire, can you please tell us what happened? What happened to Briarwood? What happened to Rootcore? What happened to you and Udonna?"

"Don't you know what happened? There's no more good magic in the world…"

"Wait…" Nick said, how could he have not realized? "Where's Aria?"

"DON'T SPEAK HER NAME!" Udonna shrieked "She was too powerful…" she muttered "No one could tame her…"

The five of them looked to each other worry and fear etched on their faces

 **-Woods-**

The rangers trekked through the woods, not really sure where they are supposed to be heading. They didn't know what to do, they had no mentor, Daggeron was technically never retrieved from the cave and Aria, well, Aria had long gone.

"So, since we never became rangers then Daggeron was never rescued from the cave – that explains why he's gone" Chip thought out loud "But what could have happened to Aria?"

"With how terrified Udonna looked, I'm not sure we should find out" Xander answered

Nick turned around "She's still one of us. We're going to figure what is going on and we are going to fix this"

Before an argument broke out Koragg then leapt in front of them, "I've been looking for you" he exclaimed with his sword drawn. With an extravagant swing he struck his sword into the ground "We need to talk"

"We don't talk" Nick fried back, pushing his way in front of his friends "Not to you" he grabbed Koragg's sword and prepared to strike when the others pulled him back

"Hey!" Vida yelled "You know me Nick, I love a battle as much as the next guy, let's hear what he has to say" but he wouldn't listen "You know Aria would want you to hear him out"

"We have no more magic Nick" Maddie added "It's over…"

Nick paused, he looked past the pink ranger and lowered the sword. Maddie took it out of his clenched fists and slowly handed it to the Knight

"We'll talk…"

Koragg sheathed his sword "The world we know it has changed, you must tell me what you know of this"

"All we know is that our world changed soon after Solaris and I lost his genie to that…bulldog and the yeti" Vida explained

"Of course," Koragg realized "Your knight lost his genie, and Imperious made him grant a wish that the power rangers never existed."

"How does that include Aria?" Nick demanded

"Your black ranger would have fully accepted her place in the Master's ranks long before this occurred Red Ranger."

"If power rangers never existed she wouldn't have become a ranger down in Blue Bay Harbor…" Nick said to himself

Koragg finished Nick's thought, "Then she would have fulfilled the prophecy."

"She became the Child of Darkness…"

He motioned to the skies, "This was her doing"

"Okay, how about the bulldog? And the yeti?" Xander asked

"Fightoe and 50 Below – they work for Imperious and they are as much my enemies as yours"

"Am I missing something?" Chip asked surprisingly angrily "You and that mummy have been trying to vaporize us for months, and your saying that you don't like the new guys because they got rid of us?"

"Not because they did, but because of how they did it and how they tried to get rid of me." Koragg stated "But most of all those two are planning to overthrow the Master."

"So, you want darkness to rule the world," Nick repeated "But not if they don't do it nicely?"

"Without honor, victory is meaningless" Koragg growled "It is the one thing in this world that no one can take from you. I would battle them myself, but my magical powers have also been taken away. But I can help you get your powers back and defeat Fightoe and 50 Below."

"And you guys took his sword away from me" Nick laughed

"Nick, what choice do we really have?" Xander asked "We know the outcome the way things are now, at least Koragg's way we still might have a fighting chance." Nick looked away "Nick, this may be the only way of saving Aria"

With a sigh and shake of his head he agreed with the green ranger.

Soon, all six were walking through the woods where Koragg discussed what they would have to do to have things go back to normal. "You must go to the Tribunal of Magic and ask them to reverse the wish, it's the only way"

"And you're gonna take us to them?" Vida asked

"The Tribunal resides in another dimension. I no longer have the magic to transport you. You'll have to go him." Koragg pointed to their beloved dragon Fireheart

The rangers eagerly walked up to their dragon when he blew a wall of fire to block them

"He doesn't remember us…" Maddie sighed "We raised him from an egg"

"No, you didn't, you never found the egg. I did. I raised him. He's my dragon." With a few words Koragg made sure that the dragon would take them where they needed to go "Go with honor"

 **-Skies-**

The rangers were soaring in the air, Chip shouting excitedly in the back when they were hit by a spell. They tried to see who was attacking but the smoke was too dense to look through and Fireheart was bobbing and weaving all over the place.

When they finally got a good look at who was attacking they realized how familiar she looked. The wild, curly raven hair blew in the wind as her giant black wings lifted her into the sky. Black magic flew from her red tipped talons and glowing red eyes widened with excitement

"Going somewhere?" she demanded

"That isn't…" Maddie started

"It can't be…" Nick added

"Gotcha now!" Aria taunted as she flew along side them before firing her magic

Fireheart circled back and fired at her

"Wait don't hurt her!" the rangers begged

Fireheart roared and clipped her with his own wing before blasting her to the ground

"Aria!" they screamed as they watched their friend fall

 **-Underworld-**

Aria flew back to the Underworld blasting a few Hidiacs along the way out of frustration. "Where are they?!" she demanded, tossing another Hidiac out of the way.

"Ah, you're back" Imperious grinned

"Where are they?!" she screamed again flying up to Imperious's face.

"Come now my dear, they are not worthy of your power"

"They shot me out the fucking sky! It's personal now"

Suddenly, the giant glowing red eye in the ground shot open and called Aria to hole in the ground. Looking into the eye of the Master Aria was shown an image of the powerless rangers.

"Perfect" Aria grinned evilly her eyes glowing menacingly.

 **-Later-**

 **-Briarwood-**

Aria, having fully accepted her title as the Child of Darkness, searched the city for the five who had the balls to attack her. Her magic and power were unmatched, even Imperious was impressed by her skill. She finally found them, fighting Hidiacs.

'Idiots' she thought.

In her eyes these mere mortals were useless, she once believed that perhaps she could live among them. But she was shown the light by the Master. She swooped down and landed in front of the five humans.

"Aria!" one called, she couldn't bother to remember who he was, "I don't want to fight you!"

She scoffed "Too bad" she blasted him "Because I do"

Despite her attack Nick pushed forward using all his strength to try and distract from going after the others

"What happened to you?" he asked after he was thrown to the ground

"I saw the light. All my life I have been hiding my true self but now? I get to be free" she smiled evilly "Aria's gone"

"What about Blake and Hunter? Your friends in Blue Bay? Tori?" he tried "Dustin?!"

"Who?"

Soon all five were surrounded by Hidiacs, Aria and Necrolai preparing to give the final blow when a strange wind blew through the air. The sky turned from bleak and gray to sunny and blue. The colour around them returned as Aria began clutching her chest.

Her body shot up to the sky as the evil dark magic fired out of her chest and into the air before disappearing. While the evil was pulled out of her, her normal appearance began to come back. The red eyes faded back to green, her wings vanished, and talons shrank back into fingers.

Nick quickly came forward and helped the weak girl back to her feet and shielded her from Necrolai and her Hidiacs. They morphed and ran straight into battle. She hid away as she tried to clear her head. She felt as though the past few days were a blur. Then suddenly it hit her like a truck.

She began to panic. She had become her greatest fear. And she didn't know what to do. The rangers were easily taking down their enemies, so she ran. As she always does.

 **-Rootcore-**

The rangers, Claire, Udonna, Jenji, and Daggeron stood in a circle. After Daggeron up to speed as to what happened they began to discuss Aria's whereabouts.

"Any ideas?" Vida asked

"Maybe she went back home?" Xander tried

"They would have said something, especially if Aria was upset" Nick reminded

"How bad was it?" Maddie asked

Nick sighed and shook his head "At first she was confused then I turn around and she's gone. She didn't even remember who her brothers were"

Suddenly the crystal ball alerted them that there was another attack from the Barbarian Beasts.

"Go rangers," Udonna said "We'll find her"

With a nod of their heads they ran out the door.

To their surprise the Tribunal of Magic granted them more power allowing them to easily defeat the last two Beasts. In that time Udonna and Claire found Aria deep in the woods. She was sat by a little brook, tossing pebbles in the water. Claire had agreed to stay behind while Udonna went after Aria.

"Sorry I ran off Udonna" she said just as Udonna opened her mouth to speak. Aria looked behind her "You can't sneak up on a ninja remember?"

"There's no need to apologize child" she reassured, coming closer to give a comforting hug "I can't begin to imagine what that must've felt for you."

"You know what the thing is though?" Aria asked "It's so easy to become…that. What if-"

"Don't think that Aria, your heart is pure, and it is true." Udonna said sternly "For reasons unknown you were chosen to have this burden put on you. But I know who you are, your family knows who you are, your friends know who you are. You are Aria Bradley, you are a warrior, and you will overcome and be the savior in the prophecy."

"Will I be strong enough to fulfill that prophecy? That's not really something that we covered" Aria joked lightly

"Even I do not know, but in that moment, it will come to you and you will know what to do"

"Right…" Aria sighed as she stood up and help a hand out to help her mentor up as well "Let's go home…"

A/N: Thanks for all the people who have supported me the past two years and thanks for asking me to update, I was honestly 100% sure that no one liked this story. So thank you all so much XOXOX


	20. Chapter 19

_Disclaimer: PRMF isn't mine, Aria and her story line is mine..._

* * *

 **Chapter 19: Heir Apparent pt. 1**

 **-Woods-**

Nick and Aria were in a heated match, their wrists tied to each other as they fought. Their wooden swords beat against each other as they danced around one another. Nick yanked his arm to try and make her loose her footing, but she kept her ground, smirking at his failed attempt. The others cheering on to keep the battle going. Aria spun Nick around, trying to dizzy him before sweeping his legs from underneath him and swing her sword down.

"Sorry there Nicky, next time I'll go easy on you" She grinned

"Don't even think about it" he replied with the same smirk and kicked her hand before rolling away. Aria was impressed. Nick charged again.

"Why don't they just use magic?" Xander asked

"In bound battle training only swords can be used, no magic" Daggeron explained "I was taught by the best, now the winner of this round will be beaten – I mean taught by the best as well"

"I see humility doesn't set in as one reaches, uh, middle age" Nick quipped

"Middle age?" Daggeron called out

"That's being generous sunshine" Aria added before charging after Nick again

"Nick's got this one wrapped up" Vida said confidently

"Thanks for the support V!"

Aria and Nick were locked. Aria threw her hands up and Nick's sword was tossed in the air before falling into the girl's hand. She quickly gave the sword back to him, he gave a nod in thanks and quickly went back to the fight.

"Aw! You had to give the sword back?!" Vida complained

Aria leapt over a low-hanging branch trapping Nick. She wrapped the rope around her to shorten the length, swept his legs from under him and aimed her weapon to his chest.

"Well done Aria!" Daggeron cheered as she helped her friend up "You fought well, and you fought with honor"

"Nice job Ri!" Nick exclaimed and gave her a high five and pat on the back.

"Nick, well done as well, your skill has gotten stronger. In fact, you have all improved."

"Thanks to you" Maddie said

"You were taught by the best, and so are we" Chip chimed in "Maybe one day we can be as good as Leanbow!"

Udonna, who was smiling to herself shot her head up and looked between Chip and Daggeron. The others looked at each other in confusion.

"I'm sorry Udonna. I told Chip about your husband. He promised not to say a word." Daggeron revealed

"Does someone wanna fill us in?" Aria asked

"Udonna, he was a great man, a hero" Daggeron said "Perhaps it's time they learned about him."

"Yes," Udonna sighed "It's time we told you the whole story"

 **-Rootcore Balcony-**

"Before the Great War," She began "Leanbow and I lived happily with our children. Their names were Baya and Bowen."

Daggeron cut in, "Leanbow was my mentor. The forces of evil attacked, and we fought them on all fronts. Leanbow fought bravely, but Morticon and his troops were too strong, we needed a plan. So, Leanbow met with Niella, and me"

They told the rangers of how Leanbow willingly made the choice to go to the underworld and directly face the Master.

"He always did things his way" Udonna smiled at her friend

"I remember, and it was always the honorable way." Daggeron continued with the story "Niella and I prepared for the final battle, then we were joined by someone we thought was our friend."

"But I thought Calindor was your enemy?" Chip wondered

Udonna's eyes turned cold. "He is. And having once been a dear friend, it made the betrayal cut all the deeper. When the battle was taken to the surface world, I knew the forces of darkness would be after our children. Baya and Bowen, born of magical blood, would have the power and potential to stop their evil domination. To protect them further, we made sure to separate to two of them."

Udonna could remember vividly handing her children off to Daggeron and Calindor.

"As I left with Bowen, Baya was given to Calindor." Daggeron had tears in his eyes. "Calindor soon found me and attacked. Dark magic gave him more power than ever. In the end, our magics collided, and we were both cursed. As for Bowen, we now know Phineas found him and brought him to the safety of the human world."

"So, your son is alive?" Maddie asked "Somewhere…"

"Yes, somewhere" Udonna smiled "Leanbow led the fight and banished the armies of the Darkness to the Underworld. Then he continued the battle behind the gates…alone. Leanbow and Niella gave their lives to save us all."

"Their sacrifice will not be vain" Xander declared

"But what about Baya?" Aria wondered

Daggeron and Udonna looked to one another

"We do not know." He answered honestly "She could have been found the same way as Bowen, or…"

Both Nick and Aria doubled in pain before looking up at everyone "Koragg wants to fight" Nick announced.

"We're ready" Daggeron reassured

"No," Aria spoke "Not you, Daggeron. You have to meet Imperious…separately, to finish off an old battle."

"This is surely a trap" Udonna warned

"We're still going" the soft-spoken Maddie declared "I think it's time for payback."

"I don't know about you guys, but I'm ready for this." Nick said as he led his team out

Daggeron followed "As am I"

 **-Field-**

All six rangers were morphed for battle. Upon arriving to the scene Koragg stood there brooding. "Welcome" he said

"What do you want?" Nick demanded

"Your legend warrior power"

"You must be joking" Xander scoffed

"No way!" Chip yelled

Nick stepped forward "We'll show you what the legend warrior power is for!"

"Nick…" Aria tried to warn but alas, they summoned their Legendary Power.

"Excellent." Koragg muttered "Your new magic is strong, that's why I must have it"

Then the battle begun. All six rangers surrounded Koragg and the fight was evenly matched. He'd strike one the other five would hit back. With him distracted Aria swung down for a final attack, pushing him back a few feet. Nick then rushed forward on a one-on-one with Koragg. Soon all six were on him again but the rangers were tired, their attacks losing power.

"Give me your legend warrior power!" Koragg demanded again "The master will grant you a place at his side"

"I'm calling bullshit" Aria declared, her team agreeing behind her.

"Bold words coming from you Black Ranger" he taunted "You will accept your place by his side"

"Never!"

"Come on guys!" Nick called his team "Let's show him rangers!"

Before either side could even attack a new monster appeared before them.

"What the fuck is that?" Aria asked in disgust. The creature had at least six different faces all over its body. Hell, even Koragg was taken back by its presence.

"Imperious, you've cast a forbidden spell"

"You're all mine rangers!" the creature announced

Nick used his Code 1 on the creature, but it merely shot it back at them. Before they could even get up the creature fired his own attack. While the rangers lay on the ground trying to stand again Koragg told the creature

"This isn't the way."

"Be quiet!" the creature demanded "Send them to the Underworld"

"…Very well"

"What's happening?"

"What the hell?"

"NO!"

 **-Underworld-**

The second they hit the floor of the Underworld Hidiacs were on them like white on rice. There was no use in fighting, they were weakened from battle and they were extremely outnumbered.

"Welcome to my humble home, rangers." Imperious laughed "Of course you, black ranger should feel at home here" he taunted

Aria struggled against her bonds. The overwhelming Dark magic was triggering for her. She could feel the Child of Darkness crawl inside her as her eyes turned black.

"Wow, really nice to see you guys." Lee-Lee smiled

"Lee-Lee? They got you too?" Vida asked

"Don't worry. We'll get you out of this disgusting place" Chip promised

"Aw thank you" she said sweetly "I hate it here. It's always dark and damp. Not to mention getting turned into an insect at everyone's slightest whim"

"She lives here guys!" Aria shouted, Lee-Lee was too much like Kapri and Marah

"Complaining again, daughter?" Necrolai asked as she emerged from the shadows

"Told ya!"

"Can we keep them here mom?" Lee-Lee asked "They have things that zombies down here will never have, like…souls"

Necrolai had her hands around her daughter "Of course dear, once their power is gone, you can keep them as your pets for all eternity."

 **-Rootcore-**

Udonna was getting worried. The rangers and Daggeron should have been back by now. She stood before the crystal ball and cast a spell to find them. The ball was taken over with black smoke.

"What does that mean?" Claire asked, "Did you find them?"

"They've been taken to the Underworld" Answered Udonna "I've got to help them."

Udonna grabbed a dusty book from the back of the bookshelf

"'The Book of Dark Spells'?" Claire read aloud. "You said no one was allowed to use this book – no one."

"There's no other way."

"But, Udonna, if you cast a spell from this book, you will lose all your magic."

"Claire, if I do not use any of these spells, the world will lose the power rangers. And Aria will completely transform into the Child of Darkness"

"Udonna-" Claire tried to argue again but Udonna looked at her niece

"There is no other way. Now, you can help or you can get out of my way."

With that Claire, sadly, agreed to help her mentor.

 **-Underworld-**

All six rangers were placed on podiums surrounded by an invisible barrier as Imperious taunted them. "So nice of you to bring me the gifts of you Legend Powers _and_ the Child of Darkness"

"You're not getting anything from us" Vida fired back

"Oh, it's not for me. It's for the Master."

Aria took a glance into the smoky hole in ground and stared into the eye of the Master. Her fists were taken over her inky black magic. Her head was pounding as her black eyes began to emit a red glow.

"Is everything alright there black ranger?" Imperious began "Don't fight it child, accept your place by his side and you will more power than you've ever dreamed."

"Fight it Ria!" Nick begged "Remember that's the thing Leanbow sacrificed himself to defeat!"

"Leanbow?" Koragg whispered

Imperious stepped in again "That name is not spoken here. Now you will give the Master the power to rise up and conquer. And you Child," he turned to Aria "will accept your place in his army."

With a flick of his fan their power was pulled from their chest while Aria was grabbed from her podium and dragged closer to the Master. She kicked and screamed, attacking any Hidiac that came too close to her, but they just kept coming.

"They cannot defend themselves, there is no honor in this defeat." Koragg argued

"Stop that foolish babbling! This is our day of victory!" Imperious cheered "This is the end of the Mystic Force!"

Suddenly Udonna came crashing in "STOP!"

All six rangers were freed, Chip came and supported Aria who was close to collapsing.

"We have to get out of here." Aria begged "I don't know how long I can keep it together."

"How touching" Imperious sneered "The Sorceress comes to save her little rangers. Now you'll feel the wrath of the Master." A tendril came out of the hole and shot her in the back.

"NO!"

"Behold her destruction!"

Aria collapsed to the ground, her eyes glowing a fiery red as she hunched her back in an inhumane fashion. She did everything in her power to keep sane. She began listing people: Mom, Dad, Hunter, Blake, Dustin, Tori, Lila, Desi, Nami, Cam, Shane. Her new team: Udonna, Nick, Claire, Daggeron, Vida, Chip, Xander, Maddie, Jenji. Her favorite memories came flooding as she willed to be stronger than the Master.

Koragg was also suddenly assaulted with a flurry of memories. A young smiling Udonna, his student Daggeron, and finally two smiling faces looking up at their father. He gasped. "Udonna!" he leapt over Imperious and cut the tendril killing Udonna. From the explosion created Leanbow appeared in his Ancient Mystic form.

"It can't be!" Imperious cried

The magic around him disappeared as he turned to face his fallen wife.

"Leanbow?"

* * *

 _A/N: thanks for reading 3 hope yall enjoyed. please review XOXOX_


	21. Chapter 20

_Disclaimer: PRMF isn't mine...if it were I wouldn't be writing fanfiction. Aria is my baby..._

* * *

 **Chapter 20: Heir Apparent pt.2**

"Leanbow?" Udonna cried "Could it really be you?" she embraced her missing husband.

"I don't know how to explain, but it's true" he smiled "I am alive"

"This is unbelievable" Maddie sighed

"No, this is one of Koragg's tricks" Nick sneered as he helped Aria to her feet. With the Master tamed, for now, her self-control was better, but she was not out of the clear yet.

"Leanbow survived but not Solaris Knight!" Imperious interrupted again "Now, to finish what I've started" he aimed for Udonna and fired but was redirected by Leanbow.

"UTHE SASORAY!"

 **-Alt. Dimension-**

Now out of the Underworld Aria collapsed as if a huge weight was taken off of her.

"Aria!" her friends called "Are you okay?"

"I think so…" she said weakly.

"We'll be safe in this dimension for a while." Leanbow announced

Udonna knelt down to her pupil "I am so proud of you Aria. I told you, your heart is pure and true."

"Okay, am I the only one confused by what's going on here?" Nick asked as Leanbow walked past him

"You usually are" Aria quipped, he just looked at her "I'm tired not dead"

"No, I'm a little mixed up myself" Vida agreed

"Let me get this straight." Chip cut in "Leanbow was Koragg and Koragg was Leanbow, and one of them – or both of them – just saved our lives."

"Wait, wait. This is the same guy who's been trying to toast us for months. How can we trust it's really Leanbow?"

"All I care about is that he got us out of there." Aria argued, she shakily got to her feet, using Udonna for support. "If we stayed there, if _I_ stayed there? It wouldn't matter who he is"

"No, he's right" Leanbow agreed "I don't blame you for not trusting me."

Udonna stepped forward "I trust you. I know it's you. What happened?"

"My tale is so incredible I'm not sure I believe it myself." They all sat around him, "It happened in the last battle of the Great War."

"You closed the Gates to the Underworld," Udonna reminisced with tears in her eyes ", and we all thought you were gone forever."

"Yes, but that's when the story just begins. My plan had worked, and the Master was sinking down into the depths. But he used the last of his dark magic to take me with him and turn me into Koragg, the Knight Wolf, his most obedient soldier. I had no memory of my previous life. Everything I did was for the Master."

"But you remember now?" Chip asked skeptically

"It must have been the virus that infected my Titan Mode. It began to break the Memory Spell."

"Then you must remember how many times you tried to destroy us" Nick argued "And Udonna, even your own wife. You almost destroyed her, then stole her Snow Staff. Does that ring any bells?"

"Well, I believe him" Aria declared "I've been in his shoes. I've been brainwashed to attack my own friends, my brothers, too many times to count and each time they've stood by me."

"I cannot tell you all how sorry I am" Leanbow apologized

Udonna put a hand on the red ranger's shoulder "Nick, no one could withstand the full power of the Master's dark magic"

"If there was any way you could forgive me, all of you…"

No one said anything, save Udonna who stepped closer before collapsing.

"You're injured" Leanbow whispered as he held her cold hands.

"I…used the Book of Dark Magic to get to the Underworld" she confessed "I'm afraid I'm as vulnerable as any human now."

"You shouldn't have done that."

Then an explosion blew "Imperious found us" Aria breathed

"I'm sending you back to Rootcore" Leanbow told his wife

"Oh, no. No, I don't want to lose you again"

"You are in no condition to fight"

"For once, I agree with him" Nick admitted "Aria go with Udonna"

"No. I'm staying" she tried but she was still weak from the Underworld

"Aria-"

"Don't bother Nick!" she fired back

He sighed before signaling Leanbow to send their mentor back.

 **-Rootcore-**

Udonna appeared before Claire back at Rootcore before collapsing

"Udonna!"

 **-Alt. Dimension-**

The sky darkened as not just Imperious but Necrolai and the multi-faced demon appeared before them.

"Get them Chimera!"

"That thing has a name?" Aria asked

"Ready yourselves" Leanbow warned just before red flashed around his head. He fell to his knees, grabbing his head, and screaming in pain "No!" he turned to his Ancient Mode as the others morphed

Leanbow was left on the ground while the others tried to keep up with Chimera.

"You have an appointment with the Master" Necrolai shrieked as she disappeared with Leanbow.

They were no match for the Chimera. He batted them away as if they were flies but Nick was relentless. "We don't need him anyway. We'll beat him ourselves. Power of the Phoenix!" Again, Nick was swatted aside.

They didn't know what to do. Even Aria, she was too weak to use any more of her power. So as the Chimera charged for them Aria sent a silent prayer. However, hope was not lost as Daggeron appeared on a unicorn and fired his Laser Lamp.

"Now what?" Imperious demanded

"Daggeron!" the rangers called

"But I destroyed you!"

He wasted no time, "Rangers, the unicorn's name is Bright Star, she can travel through all dimensions. If you run into trouble, she can combine with your Megazord. Now hurry!"

Daggeron kept Imperious busy while Bright Star took the rangers away.

 **-Woods-**

Unfortunately, Chimera followed them to another dimension. Chimera was already thirty stories tall when they arrived.

"I got this!" Nick declared before swinging onto Bright Star.

"Nick?" the others called

"We can't form the Manticore, but I can still make a Megazord!"

"Come one guys we can't leave him!" Aria called

With that they became their Titan forms. The other four combining into a dragon with Aria's Reaper riding on top of it.

"OVER HERE!" they called

They maybe got one hit in before being literally knocked out of their Titan mode. Only Aria and Nick were left.

"You're both as stubborn as Leanbow!"

"Let's take our revenge on him!" another one of the faces suggested.

"Yeah crush him!"

"I'm nothing like him!" Nick yelled as he leapt to his feet.

"Nick!"

Aria got to her feet as Chimera kicked her leader in the back.

"Get up and fight!" Another voice called, Koragg

"Leanbow! What happened?" Aria cried

"Koragg!" Nicked grimaced "I knew you were lying!"

"Nick! Leanbow is in there! He doesn't know what he's doing!"

"Let this be our last fight!" Koragg announced

"Fine!" Nick spat "But after we finish this freak"

Aria stood by Nick's side as Chimera fired. This time both of them were able to shield themselves.

"What?" Chimera demanded. No one should be able to break through his attack

"FINAL STRIKE!" they called. Aria slashed him with her Reaper's blade before Nick followed suit.

Without missing a beat Nick turned and attacked Koragg.

"Nick! Remember who's in there! Remember Leanbow!"

Of course, Nick didn't listen. But before Aria could interject, Aria was left in a daze. So much so that she returned to her normal self. She hasn't felt like this since the Pit of Evil.

"Aria! Come on!" Nick called

She saw her friend struggling in battle with the Knight, so she finally stepped in. "Don't make me hurt you Leanbow"

As always, the battle was an even match. Both sides fought with the same strength and power as each other but neither were able to maintain the upper hand for long. Up until Koragg managed to separate both Nick and Aria from their weapons.

"Neither of you have a chance without your weapons" he stated "Pick them up, I won't fight an unarmed opponent"

Nick wasted no time as he ran to his fallen sword and prepared to fight again, his emotion clouding his thoughts as his stance was weak and unstable. Aria, slowly got to her feet and retrieved her daggers, unsure of what Koragg may have planned

'Come on Leanbow,' she thought 'You're in there somewhere, come on'

"You're too angry," Koragg told Nick "You must learn to control your emotions."

"There were so many times you could have destroyed us," Nick yelled, his voice breaking, "and you didn't! Tell me why!"

 **-Rootcore-**

Udonna had been led to the closest available bed, Aria's. Her husband was once again under the influence of the Master and she could no longer help the ranger's as her magic is now gone.

She began to cry "Either my husband will destroy the rangers, or they will destroy him…all is truly lost"

"Don't talk like that" Claire demanded "You were the one who said if you believe in magic, then anything is possible."

"But my magic is gone"

There was something poking her through the thin pillow, so she reached under and pulled out a silver chain with a silver ring off it.

"You may not be a sorceress anymore, but you will always be magical." Claire reassured as she placed a red blanket on her.

Her eyes were slowly falling so she was not able to recognize either but getting a closer look at the blanket she recognized the yellow thread along the edges. Then her eyes found the rare purple gemstone set in the ring. The ring was glowing brighter than ever, it was almost blinding.

"This blanket…my ring…"

Udonna leapt off the bed and looked around Aria's room. She opened the bedside drawer and found the purple blanket as well

"Um, I don't think Aria would like that very much…"Claire said, unsure of what her teacher was doing.

"Where did you get this blanket?" Udonna asked Claire, lifting the red blanket higher

"From Nick's backpack…" she answered softly "I'm sure he wont mind if we borrow it…"

Udonna ran out the door, happy tears flooding her eyes

"Wait where are you going?!"

"I do believe! I believe in magic!"

 **-Woods-**

The battle between the three of them was intense. While Aria was pulling her punches, Nick was gunning for Koragg.

"Fight black ranger!" he demanded

"I'm not going to hurt you Leanbow!"

Nick wasn't even aware of how open he was making himself. Aria was working on defense while Nick just went after him.

"Nick calm down! Get a hold of yourself!" Aria demanded

Again, Nick didn't listen. He was getting tired and he wanted this fight to be over.

"No rest!" Koragg said before attacking again. This time he got the upper hand and kicked Nick to the side.

Aria ran to her friend, "You okay?"

"Leanbow exists only in memory, I am Koragg now and forever. Wolf Attack!"

Aria stood in front of Nick and while his magic did not hurt her, she was greeted another flurry of images: dark magic surrounding her, a baby crying, an evil laugh, and then _her_ as the Child of Darkness.

"Surrender now black ranger and you will be free to become who you were always meant to be."

"Never!"

He fired another attack, this time causing them to dimorph

"You have fought with honor, but now the battle is over. Since you have proven to be worthy opponent, I will grant you a swift end."

"It's not over yet" Aria muttered, her eyes turning dark, "you want the Child of Darkness?" Aria fired her own dark magic at him, pushing far back from where she and Nick were lying on the ground.

He raised his sword again to attack as Aria prepared to fire her magic again

"Leanbow wait!" Udonna cried "Don't do it

The sound of her voice snapped Aria out of as her grey-green eyes returned. Udonna ran up to Koragg and forced him to lower his weapon

"It's Bowen and Baya" she said calmly "Your children…our children"

Nick looked between Koragg, Udonna, and Aria. Aria wasn't much better. For years she wondered what her birth parents were like and here they were. She's been fighting one for months and living with the other at the same time. "What?" was all either could say

"You were with me all along and I never knew. It's truly magical"

Koragg sheathed his sword and slowly reached out for both of them "My – my children?" Koragg backed away before returning back into Leanbow, the dark magic having been removed from him.

Both Nick and Aria backed away, this was too overwhelming.

"How do you know?" Aria, the normally witty and smart-ass bad ass, whispered as tears welled in her eyes.

"I am your mother, it's true Nick" Udonna said gently before presenting him with his red baby blanket. She then turned to Aria and showed her the silver ring. "This ring has been passed down for generations, it contains old magic, very old. It is said to guide those who are lost back home. And it has."

All this time, Aria had the answer to her burning question right outside her bedroom door. Now that she thought about it, both she and Nick had the same light green eyes, the curly raven hair, and the tan skin; the perfect blend of Udonna and Leanbow.

"I knew there was a reason for you to come to Briarwood," Udonna said to Nick "It was to fulfill your destiny the greatest wizard of them all"

"This is going to take a little getting used to" Nick chuckled

But of course, there is never any down time for a ranger, even when they just discovered their missing family. The ground shook beneath them, as a cluster of blood red tentacles erupted from the ground. Aria fell to the ground as she felt the Darkness pulling her towards whatever that thing was.

"Come on rangers!"

"No!" Leanbow ordered as he froze everyone to their spots. "This is my battle, I must finish what I started. ANCIENT MYSTIC MODE!"

"No!"

"You can't!"

"Leanbow don't!"

They all begged but he kept walking towards his inevitable doom. They all watched helplessly as Leanbow jumped down into the Underworld, just was he did nineteen years ago to face the Master alone.

They heard a rumble from the hole Leanbow leapt through and then…nothing. From the hole the rangers were bestowed their Legendary Powers once more, meaning that Leanbow…was gone.

Udonna stood there helplessly, her children were back, but she lost the love of her life again.

 **-Rootcore-**

Aria stood on the balcony where Udonna and Daggeron told them the story of Leanbow and began to meditate. She had been living with her birth mother for a year and fought along-side her twin brother for months to fight their birth father who ultimately sacrificed himself literally five seconds after being reunited.

What. The. Fuck?

'Don't get me started on how I ended up in Reefside' she thought to herself.

"Can I ask you a question Udonna?" she asked just as she stepped through the door

"Something troubles you Baya?" she asked

"Can you call me Aria? Please?"

Udonna's smile faltered a little but she nodded

"It's just that, Nick was found in the woods, he was taken to the city, safely" Aria sniffed "I was found in the woods of Reefside. I clearly wasn't born from dark magic…so…what's wrong with me?"

Udonna sat next to the poor girl, the daughter she has missing for nineteen years. "I've told you this before, there is nothing wrong with you my dear."

"Do you think the Xenotome will tell us?"

She brushed the hair from her child's face "Perhaps."

Aria stood and turned to her mentor, her mother "I'm going to need a little time getting used to…this" she admitted "I haven't had a mom for a while. I haven't even told my brothers"

"Take your time B-Aria…"

Aria smiled before rushing to check the Xenotome.

She stood before the book and asked, "How was the Child of Darkness created?"

A chill rang through the air as the book provided the answer.

"Oh my God…"

* * *

 _A/N: Thanks for reading 3! I appreciate yall! Please Review! XOXO_


	22. RIP

Hey Guys, I'm Back.

Sorry this is not an update for Darkness Awakens and I am so sorry that I haven't been updating. However, now that I have more free time you can expect an update coming soon. This here is just me honoring Pua Magasiva's memory. If it weren't obvious before Ninja Storm was and still is my favorite season of Power Rangers. He was a huge part of my childhood just as many of yours I'm sure and I was shocked when I heard the news. I wish peace and healing for his family and loved ones and I wish he rest in peace with all the other PR actors we've lost.

Pua's memory will be carried through the people he's touched, his daughters, and his beautiful wife. Rest in Peace...


	23. Chapter 21

_A/N: Guess whose back?! Sorry for not updating but you can expect a new chapter soon! Thank you to everyone who is still reading despite my lack of updating. This is a completely original chapter so please be nice lol. Enjoy!_

* * *

 **Chapter 21: Family Ties**

Aria trudged out of Rootcore to find Udonna and the others outside. Daggeron was telling the rangers of his battle with Imperious while the rangers were battling Koragg.

"Oh Baya, there you are" Daggeron smiled

"Aria," she corrected "I think I'm gonna go home for a little."

"Wait what?" Nick asked

"I've got a lot on my plate right now. Plus, I need to talk to Hunter and Blake about…" she motioned between the two of them

The Xenotome had given her more than she asked for. She had debated on whether or not she should tell the rest of the team or even her friends down in Blue Bay but decided against it. She knew her friends would do anything to help her but, in this case, there is no other way…there was no point in bringing it up to them. She just wanted to go home for a little bit before the final battle.

"Things have been quiet around here lately" she reasoned "But things aren't over until the Master is destroyed. I just need to be home right now"

"Of course, Aria," Udonna said "I'll help you gather your things"

"No you d-" she tried but the older sorceress was already walking back into Rootcore.

Aria followed her birth mother into her room and began packing some of her things into her bag. She knew her time with these rangers was far from over. Something was coming and they were going to need her. She was not moving back to Blue Bay, but she was going to be there for a while.

Udonna broke the silence "I am assuming the Xenotome showed you everything…"

"Yes…"

"Aria I am sorry I did not tell you everything. But you must know that prophecies are always up for interpretation. You know nothing is ever as it seems" she tried

"Right…" the younger Mystic said quietly "If anything comes up let me know and I'll be there"

"Thank you, Aria, now go home" she smiled

Aria nodded in understanding and walked out the door.

"Wait, you forgot this…" Udonna called, she held up the silver necklace

Aria looked at it for a second, took it from Udonna's hand and stared down at it before holding it out again. "It belongs to you Udonna, I couldn't"

"Baya," she argued "I know times are confusing now but you are my daughter. This ring did belong to me, but now it is yours." She then took the silver ring from the chain and placed it on her left index finger. "Take your time but know that you will always have a place here."

"Thank you Udonn…mom"

Udonna's smile wider than ever before. She held her daughter in her arms before letting her walk out of the door. Udonna had both of her children but her family was still incomplete. Her children still didn't have their father and she didn't have her husband. However, she was hopeful. If she was able to find both of her children, she was certain that she would be able to find her husband. And nothing was going to stop her.

 **-Reefside-**

 **-Thunder Academy-**

Aria streaked to the Thunder Academy eager to get back to a sense of normality. Or at least as normal life as a ninja-mystic-power ranger could be. She had already called her brothers in a family meeting. Luckily Blake was able to take time off to come back to Reefside for a little.

Arriving to the Academy she was greeted by familiar feeling of electricity in the air was comforting to the Black Thunder Ninja

"Ri!" Hunter called, behind him were a group of students, their leather uniforms striped with white. Newbies.

"Look at you," she teased "Hunter Bradley, Head Sensei showing the newbies around"

"And this is Aria Bradley, my baby sister" the former Crimson ranger sighed.

"I'm not a baby any more bro. And remember I can still kick your ass"

Hunter laughed at his little sister as his students behind him snickered

"You'll learn all about our adventures soon enough" he says

"Damn you really forgot about the middle child, didn't you?" Blake called over from the entrance

Hunter motioned to one of the other senseis to take over, "You're training starts now, welcome to the Thunder Academy." The new students cheered as they were led down the stone path to the training grounds

The three siblings hugged and greeted each other with excitement.

"Who would've thought that our big brother would be running the Academy" Blake laughed

"Is it really so hard to believe?" Hunter sighed, running a hand down his face

"Dude, when we finally got colour assigned you made a giant slip-n-slide in the court-yard that night to celebrate. You were on locker room duty for two years. You would've been expelled if it weren't for the fact that we lived here" Blake reminded

"Bro and that one time you were caught with-"

"Ok, ok I get it" he interrupted, not wanting to remember the embarrassing things he did when he was younger "You called a family meeting right?"

Aria's smile faltered a little, unsure of how her brothers will react "Right, let's go somewhere private yeah?"

Hunter lead them through the academy before arriving to what appeared to be his room on site.

"Is everything alright?" he asked, always the protective older brother

Aria fiddled with the ring on her finger "I'm just gonna say it…I, er, found my birth parents."

Blake and Hunter were stunned. Of course, when they were younger each of them had gone through a phase of wanting to find who their biological parents were but the three of them all came to the same conclusion: The family they had now was all they needed.

"How? Who?" Blake questioned. Hunter sat down on the edge of his dresser, unsure on how to feel. Both brothers were questioning how to feel at the moment. They were happy for their baby sister finding her biological family but that might mean that she would want to be with them. But they knew Ari wouldn't be like that…would she?

"Er, well…turns out…I've actually known them for a while…remember Udonna?"

"What?"

"You're kidding…" Hunter said quietly "How do you know?"

Aria held up her hand and showed the familiar ring sitting on it "Turns out, this has been in her – my family for generations. It's supposed to guide those who are lost. That's why it would glow whenever I was close to them…"

"Them?"

"Right…" Aria breathed and began pacing the floor "Well…turns out I've actually been fighting along side my brother, twin brother, against our dad all while being mentored by our mother…"

"Rewind…." Blake held up a hand "Brother?"

"Twin brother?" Hunter added

"Yeah…it's uh Nick actually…" she looked down at the floor remembering how insane this whole scenario was "And uh…my dad was actually the bad guy for a while, then he became good, and then he uh, well he disappeared again…his real name was Leanbow but you guys probably know him as Koragg…"

"Dude…" Hunter breathed "That's…"

"A lot" Blake finished

"Bro trust me I know" she sighed and leaned against the wall behind her. silence filled the room; her brothers were trying to figure out her new family tree and Aria was patiently waiting for her them to say something.

Hunter broke the silence "So…er…what's your actual name then?"

Blake face palmed at the blonde's question "Dude…"

Aria laughed a little "It's fine Blake, apparently my name's Baya"

"Baya?" Hunter repeated, trying to cover his laughter at the sound of this unfamiliar name

"Hey, it's better than Bowen" Aria argued "That's Nick's birth name"

"So, should we be calling you that now?" Blake asked quietly

"As far as I am concerned my name is still Aria Bradley and I am still your sister." Aria reassured, she walked closer to her brothers

"What about Nick? And Udonna and L-"

"Blake, I am still your baby sister okay?" Aria said calmly, looking between the Crimson and Navy ninjas "Yes I have a biological brother-"

"A twin brother…" Hunter interrupted

"Hunter shut up," she fired back "Yes, Nick is my twin but guess what dumbass, that changes nothing. Udonna and Leanbow change nothing between us and mom and dad. Remember what they used to tell us?"

Her brothers were silent

"Blood and DNA isn't what makes a family, it's love" she recited "Now tease me all you want but I love you guys, you are my brothers, and that will never change. I'm still your annoying ass little sister"

"Don't go soft on us now dude" Hunter laughed pushing his sister head

"Says the dude who was just moping two seconds earlier"

The three Bradley children were then laughing and joking as if a bombshell wasn't just dropped on them. Aria was thankful for this; she knew her brothers would have been happy for her but now she was sure that her relationship with her big brothers wouldn't change. Ever

Obviously, she felt guilty withholding the other information she's learned but they didn't need to worry about her.

"So, when are you heading back?" Hunter asked

"Well, good news for you guys. Your little sister is gonna be here for a while. Things are pretty quiet in Briarwood right now and I've been missing the track."

"And someone else" Blake laughed

"Says you Blake, remember bro Tori tells me _everything_ "

His face flushed red as his siblings laughed at his embarrassment

"C'mon, lets head over to Ops"

 **-Blue Bay Harbor-**

 **-Ninja Ops-**

With all seven rangers present it began to feel like old times. Aria hade explained everything she told to her brothers and was met with the same questions. After explanations galore the six ninjas, plus one samurai, began giving life updates. After a while however they were all getting restless. Together they raced to the quarry where a majority of their battles were held. There they sparred and the moto riders all raced up and down the beach. Obviously, Blake won every round, but Aria still came pretty close.

"Still got it" Aria grinned as she removed her helmet

"Yeah cause I let you pass me up" Hunter argued shaking his hair from his face

"Oh, so you've been letting me beat you for the past ten years?"

"Dudeeee" Dustin laughed and high fived his girlfriend "Burnnnn"

With a roll of his eyes he chased after his little sister. Aria ran away laughing and for the first time in a while she didn't have a care in the world. No prophecy and no crazy family tree. She was just a normal nineteen year old girl hanging out with her friends – her family.

* * *

 _A/N: Thanks for reading! REVIEW/ FOLLOW XOXOX_


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